Military Strikes Continue Against ISIS Terrorists

Military Strikes Continue Against ISIS Terrorists
May 18, 2017 in Security
U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria on Tuesday, conducting 29 strikes consisting of 87 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 18 strikes consisting of 24 engagements against ISIS targets:

Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed an ISIS wellhead.
Near Hawl, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a fighting position.
Near At Tanf, a strike destroyed a storage facility.
Near Dayr Az Zawr, three strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a four oil processing equipment items, two ISIS oil storage tanks, a vehicle and a fighting position.
Near Palmyra, a strike destroyed a front-end loader.
Near Raqqa, six strikes engaged five ISIS tactical units; destroyed five vehicles, two vehicle bombs, two mortar systems and an ISIS storage facility; and damaged an ISIS bridge.
Near Tabqah, five strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and destroyed three vehicles and two fighting positions.
Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted 11 strikes consisting of 58 engagements against ISIS targets:

Near Qaim, a strike destroyed a bunker and a tactical vehicle.
Near Rutbah, a strike destroyed a bunker.
Near Mosul, six strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units; destroyed 10 fighting positions, three medium machine guns, two rocket-propelled grenade systems, an unmanned aircraft system, an ISIS-held building, an artillery system, a heavy machine gun, a mortar system, a vehicle bomb, a command-and-control node, a vehicle and a vehicle bomb-making facility; damaged 16 ISIS supply routes and a fighting position; and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit and a mortar team.
Near Sinjar, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle, an ISIS staging area and an improvised explosive device cache.
Near Tal Afar, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle.
Additionally, a strike was conducted in Syria on May 15 that closed within the last 24 hours:

Near Raqqa, a strike destroyed an ISIS headquarters.
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)