Inherent Resolve Strikes Target ISIS in Syria, Iraq

Inherent Resolve Strikes Target ISIS in Syria, Iraq
August 10, 2017 in Security
U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 18 strikes consisting of 29 engagements, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

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 16 strikes consisting of 25 engagements against ISIS targets:

Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed ISIS oil equipment.
Near Dayr Az Zawr, a strike destroyed an ISIS wellhead.
Near Raqqa, 14 strikes engaged nine ISIS tactical units and destroyed 27 fighting positions, five command-and-control nodes, two heavy machine guns, a mortar system, a vehicle and an improvised explosive device factory.
Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted two strikes consisting of four engagements against ISIS targets:

Near Kisik, a strike suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.
Near Tal Afar, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS-held building and a vehicle.
Aug. 8 Strikes

Officials also announced results today on 11 strikes consisting of 19 engagements conducted Aug. 8 in Syria and Iraq for which the information was unavailable in time for yesterday’s report:

Near Raqqa, seven strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units and destroyed three fighting positions, three command-and-control nodes, an IED and a heavy machine gun.
Near Kisik, two strikes suppressed 10 mortar systems.
Near Tal Afar, two strikes destroyed an ISIS staging area and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.
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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