October 11: Military airstrikes continue against ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq

Release No: 16-102 Oct. 11, 2016 PRINT | E-MAIL

October 11, 2016
Release # 20161011-01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOUTHWEST ASIA – On Oct. 10, coalition military forces conducted 17 strikes against ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq. In Syria, coalition military forces conducted eight strikes using attack, bomber, and fighter aircraft against ISIL targets. Additionally in Iraq, coalition military forces conducted nine strikes coordinated with and in support of the Government of Iraq using attack, 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 Abu Kamal, one strike damaged a supply route.
* Near Al Hawl, one strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a fighting position.
* Near Dayr Az Zawr, three strikes destroyed three ISIL oil well heads and an oil tanker truck and damaged two supply routes.
* Near Manbij, three strikes engaged three ISIL tactical units and destroyed six fighting positions and two vehicles.

Iraq
* Near Bayji, two strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed three fighting positions, two weapons caches, two bunkers, and a tunnel entrance.
* Near Haditha, one strike destroyed three ISIL vehicles.
* Near Kisik, one strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit; destroyed an ISIL-held building, a fighting position, a heavy machine gun, and three tunnels; damaged a trench and another tunnel; and suppressed a second tactical unit.
* Near Mosul, four strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit, a staging area, six headquarters buildings, two media centers, a VBIED facility, and a weapons facility and destroyed two ISIL-held buildings, a command and control node, an anti-air artillery system, and a weapons cache.
* Near Sinjar, one strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed five fighting positions.

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.

CJTFOIR