SOUTHWEST ASIA, Jan. 11, 2017 — U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Iraq and Syria yesterday, 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, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 15 strikes in Syria:
— Near Ayn Isa, three strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units and destroyed a vehicle, five fighting positions, a command and control node, a vehicle bomb and a heavy machine gun.
— Near Dayr Az Zayr, five strikes destroyed three oil wellheads, 16 oil tanker trucks, two oil pumpjacks and an excavator.
— Near Palmyra, two strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed two tactical vehicles.
— Near Raqqa, five strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units and destroyed a front-end loader, a vehicle bomb, a fighting position and a tunnel entrance.
Strikes in Iraq
Attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft and rocket artillery conducted eight strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:
— Near Huwayjah, two strikes disabled two bridges.
— Near Mosul, three strikes engaged three ISIL tactical units; destroyed four fighting positions, two vehicles, an ISIL-held building and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher; and damaged 39 supply routes, three tunnels and a front-end loader.
— Near Rawah, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle bomb, a vehicle bomb facility and a UAV launch site.
— Near Sinjar, a strike suppressed an ISIL tactical unit.
— Near Tal Afar, a strike destroyed a vehicle bomb factory.
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. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike.
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 that have conducted strikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Syria include the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.
