Coalition Strikes Hit ISIL Targets in Iraq, Syria

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 on Friday.

Officials reported details of the latest strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

Attack and ground attack aircraft conducted six strikes in Syria:

• Near Raqqah, a strike destroyed an ISIL bulldozer.
• Near Mara, five strikes struck five separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed two ISIL fighting positions and four ISIL vehicles.

Strikes in Iraq

Attack, fighter and ground attack aircraft conducted 30 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:

• Near Hit, three strikes struck a large ISIL tactical unit and destroyed 18 ISIL boats, an ISIL command and control node and an ISIL weapons cache and denied ISIL access to terrain.
• Near Kisik, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL tunnel system.
• Near Mosul, 21 strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit, 18 ISIL modular oil refineries and two ISIL crude oil stills and destroyed an ISIL assembly area.
• Near Qayyarah, a strike destroyed 33 ISIL boats.
• Near Sultan Abdallah, three strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL assembly area, an ISIL fighting position, an ISIL mortar cache and an ISIL mortar system.
• Near Tal Afar, a strike suppressed an ISIL mortar position.

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 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.

(Source: US Dept of Defense)