Military Strikes Continue Against ISIS in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Aug. 26, 2017 — U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 39 strikes consisting of 37 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 29 strikes consisting of 37 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, three strikes destroyed two ISIS well heads and an ISIS check point.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, two strikes destroyed four ISIS oil stills and a well head.

-- Near Raqqah, 24 strikes engaged 15 ISIS tactical units; destroyed 20 fighting positions, two logistics nodes, two command and control nodes, a vehicle bomb, an ISIS unmanned aerial system, a vehicle, and an ISIS headquarters; and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.

Strikes in Iraq, Earlier Strikes

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted 10 strikes consisting of 65 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Al Qaim, a strike destroyed an ISIS-held building.

-- Near Bayji two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed a vehicle and a staging area.

-- Near Tal Afar, seven strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units; destroyed 17 fighting positions, 10 vehicles, eight anti-air systems, six ISIS-held buildings, six medium machine guns, six mortar systems, four rocket-propelled grenades, three weapons caches, two recoilless rifles, a heavy machine gun, and a vehicle-borne-bomb facility; damaged two supply routes; and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.

Officials also announced details today from 55 strikes consisting of 127 engagements conducted Aug. 20-24 in Syria and Iraq for which the information was not yet available in time for yesterday's report:

-- On Aug. 20 near Tal Afar, Iraq, a strike suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.

-- On Aug. 21 near Tal Afar, Iraq, a strike suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.

-- On Aug. 24 near Al Shadaddi, Syria, four strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units and destroyed a vehicle, and a logistics node.

-- On Aug. 24 near Raqqah, Syria, 41 strikes engaged 33 ISIS tactical units and destroyed 33 fighting positions, an ISIS headquarters, three vehicles, a roadside bomb, an anti-air artillery system, and a command and control node.

-- On Aug. 24 near Al Huwayjah, Iraq, a strike destroyed 15 ISIS oil equipment items and five pieces of engineering equipment.

-- On Aug. 24 near Al Qaim, Iraq, a strike destroyed an ISIS staging area.

-- On Aug. 24 near Kisik, Iraq, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit; destroyed two fighting positions, a vehicle-borne bomb and a rocket-propelled grenade; and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.

-- On Aug. 24 near Tal Afar, Iraq, four strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit; destroyed 25 vehicles, eight fighting positions, a weapons cache, three medium machine guns, two mortar systems, two front-end loaders, a vehicle-borne bomb, and an excavator; damaged two supply routes; and suppressed two ISIS tactical units.

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.