SOUTHWEST ASIA, April 18, 2017 - U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 23 strikes consisting of 75 engagements, 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 16 strikes consisting of 19 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed an ISIS staging area.
-- Near Shadaddi, a strike destroyed an ISIS tank.
-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, four strikes destroyed four ISIS wellheads, a command-and-control node and an ISIS vehicle.
-- Near Palmyra, two strikes destroyed two ISIS tunnels and an ISIS shed.
-- Near Raqqa, a strike destroyed a front-end loader.
-- Near Tabqah, seven strikes engaged five ISIS tactical units, destroyed three fighting positions and damaged six fighting positions.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted seven strikes consisting of 56 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Mosul, six strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units; destroyed five fighting positions, three vehicle-borne bombs, a mortar system and a front-end loader; damaged three fighting positions and two supply routes; and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit, a mortar team and an artillery system.
-- Near Tal Afar, a strike destroyed an ISIS staging area.

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.

This report is from a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release


Posted 4/18/17