January 17, 2016
Release # 20160117-01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SOUTHWEST ASIA — On Jan. 16, coalition military forces
continued to attack ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq. In Syria, coalition
military forces conducted three strikes using remotely piloted aircraft.
Separately in Iraq, coalition military forces conducted 26 strikes coordinated
with and in support of the Government of Iraq using rocket artillery and
ground-attack, attack, fighter, bomber, and remotely piloted aircraft against
ISIL targets.
The following is a summary of the strikes conducted against ISIL since the last
press release:
Syria
* Near Ar Raqqah, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.
* Near Manbij, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.
* Near Mar'a, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.
Iraq
* Near Albu Hayat, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed three
ISIL command and control nodes.
* Near Kisik, three strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL
heavy machine gun, an ISIL fighting position, and denied ISIL access to
terrain.
* Near Mosul, 10 strikes struck seven separate ISIL tactical units and an
ISIL-used culvert and destroyed three ISIL vehicles, 34 ISIL fighting
positions, two ISIL weapons caches, three ISIL assembly areas, three ISIL bunkers,
and wounded two ISIL fighters.
* Near Qayyarah, four strikes struck an ISIL weapons manufacturing facility and
an ISIL-used culvert and destroyed an ISIL crude oil heater and denied ISIL
access to terrain.
* Near Ramadi, five strikes struck three separate ISIL tactical units and
destroyed an ISIL artillery piece, five ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL
vehicles, an ISIL bunker, and an ISIL heavy machine gun, suppressed an ISIL
staging area, and cratered an ISIL-used road.
* Near Sultan Abdallah, one strike suppressed an ISIL mortar position.
* Near Tal Afar, one strike struck an ISIL-used bridge.
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 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, Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Coalition
nations which have conducted strikes in Syria include Australia, Bahrain,
Canada, France, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, the United
Kingdom, and the United States.