WASHINGTON – The ongoing efforts against Islamic State continue with a series of air raids.
U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, conducting 34 strikes consisting of 80 engagements against ISIS targets yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.
Officials reported details of yesterday’s strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.
Strikes in Syria
In Syria, coalition military forces conducted 19 strikes consisting of 20 engagements against ISIS targets:
— Near Abu Kamal, a strike suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.
— Near Dayr Az Zawr, a strike destroyed a wellhead.
— Near Palmyra, a strike destroyed a tank.
— Near Raqqa, nine strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit; destroyed a wellhead, a heavy transport equipment piece, a vehicle, an oil storage tank, an ISIS headquarters, a vehicle-borne bomb and a fighting position; and damaged two supply routes.
— Near Tabqah, seven strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units; destroyed two vehicles, a fighting position and a front-end loader; and damaged two supply routes.
Strikes in Iraq
In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted seven strikes consisting of 67 engagements against ISIS targets, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:
— Near Beiji, a strike destroyed a tactical vehicle.
— Near Mosul, seven strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units; destroyed six tunnels, three fighting positions, three vehicles, two mortar systems, a weapons storage facility, a front-end loader, a supply cache and a heavy machine gun; damaged 17 supply routes; and suppressed six ISIS mortar teams and three ISIS tactical units.
— Near Qaim, a strike suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.
— Near Qayyarah, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a watercraft.
— Near Rawah, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed a unmanned aerial vehicle, a UAV facility and a vehicle.
— Near Sinjar, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a tactical vehicle and a vehicle.
— Near Tal Afar, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a weapons cache, an explosives cache, a storage facility and an improvised weapons facility.
Part of Operation Inherent Resolve
These strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to destroy ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The destruction of ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria also further limits the group’s ability to project terror and conduct external operations throughout the region and the rest of the world, task force officials said.
The list above contains all strikes conducted by fighter, attack, bomber, rotary-wing or remotely piloted aircraft; rocket-propelled artillery; and some ground-based tactical artillery when fired on planned targets, officials noted.
Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike, they added. A strike, as defined by the coalition, refers to one or more kinetic engagements that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single or cumulative effect. For example, task force officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIS vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of ISIS-held buildings and weapon systems in a compound, having the cumulative effect of making that facility harder or impossible to use. Strike assessments are based on initial reports and may be refined, officials said.
The task force does 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.
