March 22, 2016
Release # 20160322-01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SOUTHWEST
ASIA — On March 21, coalition military forces continued to attack ISIL
terrorists in Syria and Iraq. In Syria, coalition military forces
conducted two strikes using attack and fighter aircraft against ISIL
targets. Additionally in Iraq, coalition military forces conducted 13
strikes coordinated with and in support of the Government of Iraq using
rocket artillery and fighter 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 weapons storage facility.
* Near Mar'a, one strike destroyed an ISIL fighting position.
Iraq
* Near Al Baghdadi, two strikes struck two ISIL staging facilities.
* Near Habbaniyah, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.
*
Near Hit, two strikes struck a large ISIL tactical unit and destroyed
an ISIL vehicle borne improvised explosive device (VBIED).
* Near
Kisik, three strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and
destroyed two ISIL assembly areas and suppressed an ISIL tactical unit.
* Near Mosul, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL tunnel and suppressed an ISIL tactical unit.
* Near Qayyarah, two strikes destroyed ISIL engineering equipment and damaged an ISIL used bridge section.
* Near Sinjar, one strike suppressed an ISIL rocket position.
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, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United
States. Coalition nations which have conducted strikes in Syria include
Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi
Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United
States.