Coalition Continues Strikes Against ISIL in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Forces Command News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, January 10, 2016 — U.S. and coalition military forces have continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of the latest strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

Fighter, attack, bomber, and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 11 strikes in Syria:

-- Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed an ISIL crane.

-- Near Raqqah, two strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units.

-- Near Ayn Isa, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed four ISIL buildings.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, a strike destroyed 16 ISIL skid mounted gas and oil separation plants.

-- Near Manbij, three strikes struck three separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed three ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL bunker, and wounded an ISIL fighter.

-- Near Mar'a, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed two ISIL fighting positions and damaged an ISIL building.

-- Near Washiyah, a strike destroyed an ISIL excavator.

Strikes in Iraq

Coalition forces used rocket artillery, fighter, bomber, and remotely piloted aircraft to conduct 15 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of the Iraqi government:

-- Near Albu Hayat, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit, wounded an ISIL fighter, and destroyed an ISIL weapons cache and an ISIL building.

-- Near Habbaniyah, a strike destroyed an ISIL fighting position and denied ISIL access to terrain.

-- Near Haditha, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.

-- Near Kisik, two strikes destroyed five ISIL assembly areas and denied ISIL access to terrain.

-- Near Mosul, two strikes struck an ISIL headquarters building and destroyed an ISIL excavator.

-- Near Qayyarah, a strike destroyed two ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL weapons caches, and two ISIL assembly areas.

-- Near Ramadi, six strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units, wounded three ISIL fighters, denied ISIL access to terrain, and destroyed three ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL heavy machine guns, an ISIL tactical vehicle, an ISIL training facility, an ISIL vehicle bomb and an ISIL recoilless rifle.

-- Near Tal Afar, a strike struck an ISIL-used bridge.

Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is a strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do 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.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

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, the region, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.

Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Iraq include Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Syria include Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.