Coalition Strikes Target ISIS Terrorists in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Sept. 9, 2017 — U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 43 strikes consisting of 47 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 40 strikes consisting of 40 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Raqqa, 40 strikes engaged 11 ISIS tactical units and destroyed 24 fighting positons, four logistics node, two vehicles, an ISIS communication line, a mortar system, a command-and-control node and suppressed four fighting positions.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted three strikes consisting of seven engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Qaim, a strike destroyed a vehicle-borne bomb facility.

-- Near Bashir, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a command-and-control node.

-- Near Rawah, a strike destroyed a vehicle-borne bomb.

Additional Strikes

Additionally, 34 strikes consisting of 46 engagements were conducted in Syria on Aug. 23 and Sept.3-7 that closed within the last 24 hours:

-- On Aug. 23, near Raqqa, a strike suppressed a fighting position.

-- On Sept. 3, near Raqqa, two strikes destroyed two command-and-control nodes, a logistics node, a fighting position and suppressed a fighting position.

-- On Sept. 4, near Raqqa, two strikes destroyed four fighting positions.

-- On Sept. 5, near Raqqa, a strike destroyed a fighting position.

-- On Sept. 6, near Raqqa, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed two fighting positions and a command-and-control node.

-- On Sept. 7, near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed an ISIS tactical unit and a vehicle.

-- On Sept. 7, near Dayr Az Zawr, three strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed two vehicles and an ISIS communication line.

-- On Sept. 7, near Raqqa, 22 strikes engaged seven ISIS tactical units and destroyed 15 fighting positions, 15 vehicles, four vehicle-borne bombs and suppressed four fighting positions.

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.