Strikes Target ISIL Terrorists in Syria, Iraq

SOUTHWEST ASIA, January 15, 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

Attack, fighter, and remotely piloted aircraft conducted five strikes in Syria:

-- Near Mar’a, three strikes struck three separate ISIL tactical units and wounded an ISIL fighter.

-- Near Manbij, a strike destroyed an ISIL vehicle.

-- Near Raqqah, a strike struck an ISIL gas and oil separation plant.

Strikes in Iraq

Attack, fighter, bomber, and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 19 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:

-- Near Baghdadi, a strike destroyed three ISIL tunnel entrances.

-- Near Albu Hayat, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL fighting position.

-- Near Balad, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL fighting position and an ISIL heavy machine gun.

-- Near Habbaniyah, a strike denied ISIL access to terrain.

-- Near Kisik, a strike destroyed seven ISIL fighting positions.

-- Near Mosul, seven strikes struck three separate ISIL tactical units, an ISIL headquarters, and an ISIL bomb-making factory, suppressed an ISIL rocket position, and destroyed eight ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL heavy machine guns, two ISIL vehicles, nine ISIL assembly areas, two weapons caches, an ISIL bunker, and an ISIL command-and-control node.

-- Near Ramadi, five strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units, cratered an ISIL-used road, denied ISIL access to terrain, and destroyed an ISIL vehicle bomb, three ISIL vehicles, an ISIL heavy machine gun, four ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL mortar system and an ISIL staging area.

-- Near Sultan Abdallah, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL fighting position.

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

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