January 17: Military airstrikes continue against ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq

January 17, 2017
Release # 20170117-01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOUTHWEST ASIA — On Jan. 16, Coalition military forces conducted 17 strikes against ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq. In Syria, Coalition military forces conducted 12 strikes using attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft against ISIL targets. Additionally in Iraq, Coalition military forces conducted five strikes coordinated with and in support of the government of Iraq using attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft as well as rocket artillery against ISIL targets.

Syria
. Near Al Bab, two strikes destroyed a tactical vehicle and an excavator.
. Near Ar Raqqah, nine strikes engaged three ISIL tactical units; destroyed three fighting positions, an artillery system, a supply cache, a VBIED, a front-end loader, a tactical vehicle, and an ISIL weapons storage facility; and damaged a supply route.
. Near Dayr Az Zayr, one strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL checkpoint.

Iraq
. Near Mosul, four strikes engaged three ISIL tactical units; destroyed a command and control node, a heavy machine gun, a tactical vehicle, 14 fighting positions, two vehicles, a mortar, an ISIL-held building, a VBIED, and an ISIL weapons factory; suppressed an ISIL mortar team and artillery crew; and damaged 32 supply routes and an ISIL defensive berm.
. Near Tal Afar, one strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a VBIED.

Strike assessments are based on initial reports. All aircraft returned to base safely.

A strike, as defined in the CJTF releases, means one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative effect for that location.

So having a single aircraft deliver a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of buildings and vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making that facility (or facilities) harder or impossible to use.

Accordingly, CJTF-OIR 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. The information used to compile the daily strike releases is based on 'Z' or Greenwich Mean Time.
Ground-based artillery fired in counter-fire or in fire support to maneuver roles are not classified as a strike as defined by CJTF-OIR.

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 group's ability to project terror and conduct operations. Coalition nations which have conducted strikes in Iraq include Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Coalition nations which have conducted strikes in Syria include Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.