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Press Release | Feb. 23, 2017

February 23: Military airstrikes continue against ISIS terrorists in Syria and Iraq

CJTFOIR

February 23, 2017
Release # 20170223-01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOUTHWEST ASIA — On Feb. 22, Coalition military forces conducted 38 strikes consisting of 94 engagements against ISIS terrorists in Syria and Iraq.

In Syria, Coalition military forces conducted 24 strikes consisting of 32 engagements against ISIS targets.

* Near Abu Kamal, three strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed four oil refinement stills and a vehicle.

* Near Al Bab, four strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units and destroyed a VBIED.

* Near Al Shadaddi, three strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed four fighting positions and an ISIS headquarters.

* Near Ar Raqqah, seven strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units and an ISIS staging area and destroyed three pump jacks, a command and control node, a fighting position and a tactical vehicle.

* Near At Tanf, one strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed two tactical vehicles.

* Near Dayr Az Zawr, three strikes destroyed seven oil separation tanks, and oil wellhead, an oil tanker truck and an oil inlet manifold.

* Near Palmyra, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed four tactical vehicles.

* Near Tamakh, one strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a tactical vehicle.

In Iraq, Coalition military forces conducted 14 strikes consisting of 62 engagements coordinated with and in support of the government of Iraq against ISIS targets.

* Near Bayji, three strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units; destroyed a tactical vehicle and a heavy machine gun; and suppressed a mortar team.

* Near Mosul, five strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units; destroyed three mortar systems, two ISIS-held buildings, two VBIED factories, a supply cache, a fighting position, a front-end loader, an excavator, a dump truck, a generator trailer, a weapons cache and a vehicle; damaged 15 supply routes and three tunnels; and suppressed 17 mortar teams and an artillery team.

* Near Qayyarah, one strike destroyed a weapons cache.

* Near Rawah, one strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed three ISIS-held building and a vehicle.

* Near Tal Afar, four strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and an ISIS staging area and destroyed two weapons caches, a VBIED, a front-end loader, an IED factory and an ISIS-held building.

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.

This Coalition strike release 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.  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.

A strike, as defined in the Coalition release, refers to one or more kinetic engagements that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative effect in that location.  For example, 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.

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.