SOUTHWEST ASIA –
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 and remotely piloted aircraft conducted eight strikes in Syria:
-- Near Hawl, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.
-- Near Mara, seven strikes struck seven separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed four ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL command and control node and two ISIL vehicles.
Strikes in Iraq
Attack, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 18 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:
-- Near Huwayjah, a strike destroyed an ISIL heavy machine gun.
-- Near Fallujah, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.
-- Near Hit, three strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed six ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL heavy machine guns, an ISIL recoilless rifle, an ISIL supply cache, an ISIL boat and two ISIL vehicles and denied ISIL access to terrain.
-- Near Kirkuk, two strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed four ISIL assembly areas, an ISIL bunker, two ISIL vehicles, seven ISIL rocket systems and an ISIL vehicle bomb.
-- Near Mosul, seven strikes struck three separate ISIL tactical units and an ISIL vehicle bomb manufacturing facility and destroyed an ISIL tunnel system, four ISIL assembly areas, an ISIL supply cache and an ISIL vehicle.
-- Near Qayyarah, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed eight ISIL fighting positions.
-- Near Sinjar, a strike destroyed two ISIL assembly areas and two ISIL supply caches.
-- Near Sultan Abdallah, two strikes destroyed an ISIL assembly area and an ISIL supply cache and denied ISIL access to terrain.
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.