SOUTHWEST ASIA — U.S. and coalition military forces have continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.
Officials reported details of the latest strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.
Strikes in Syria
Attack, fighter and ground attack aircraft conducted 14 strikes in Syria:
— Near Hasakah, three strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed three ISIL buildings, an ISIL mortar system and an ISIL fighting position and suppressed a separate ISIL mortar system.
— Near Hawl, seven strikes destroyed three ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL building, two ISIL heavy machine guns and two ISIL vehicles, suppressed an ISIL mortar system and an ISIL heavy machine gun and cratered two ISIL-used roads.
— Near Ayn Isa, a strike suppressed an ISIL vehicle bomb and an ISIL anti-air artillery piece.
— Near Dayr Az Zawr, two strikes struck an ISIL gas and oil separation plant and denied ISIL access to terrain.
— Near Manbij, a strike destroyed an ISIL fighting position.
Strikes in Iraq
Fighter aircraft conducted four strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:
— Near Qayyarah, a strike destroyed an ISIL excavator.
— Near Ramadi, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.
— Near Sinjar, a strike destroyed two ISIL weapons caches and five ISIL assembly areas.
— Near Sultan Abdallah, a strike destroyed seven ISIL fighting positions.
Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target.
Part of Operation Inherent Resolve
The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group’s ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.
Coalition nations conducting strikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations conducting strikes in Syria include the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.
