Details of Latest Counter-ISIS Strikes

Details of Latest Counter-ISIS Strikes
June 21, 2017 in Security
U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria on Monday, conducting 15 strikes consisting of 69 engagements, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported yesterday.

Officials reported details of yesterday’s strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

In Syria, coalition military forces conducted eight strikes consisting of 13 engagements against ISIS targets:

Near Raqqa, eight strikes engaged seven ISIS tactical units and destroyed 15 fighting positions and a vehicle.
Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted seven strikes consisting of 56 engagements against ISIS targets:

Near Huwayjah, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a supply cache.
Near Beiji, a strike destroyed two ISIS bunkers.
Near Mosul, four strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units; destroyed 36 fighting positions, 10 medium machine guns, four rocket-propelled grenade systems, four mortar systems, a supply cache, a vehicle and an anti-air artillery system; and damaged 12 fighting positions.
Near Tuz, a strike destroyed an ISIS supply route.
June 17-18 Strikes

Additionally, six strikes were conducted June 17-18 in Syria and Iraq that closed within the last 24 hours:

Near Raqqa, Syria, a June 17 strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and two snipers; destroyed two ISIS headquarters, two mortar systems, an anti-air artillery system, a vehicle bomb-making facility and an ISIS staging area; and damaged 11 fighting positions.
Near Raqqa, Syria, three June 18 strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units, destroyed eight fighting positions and a mortar system, and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.
Near Mosul, Iraq, two June 18 strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit; destroyed 30 vehicles, two fighting positions, a rocket-propelled grenade system and a medium machine gun; and damaged 18 ISIS supply routes.
Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

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, task force officials said.

The list above 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, officials noted.

Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike, they added. A strike, as defined by the coalition, refers to one or more kinetic engagements that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single or cumulative effect.

For example, task force officials explained, 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, officials said.

The task force 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.

(Source: US Dept of Defense)

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