Counter-ISIS Strikes Continue in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Sept. 14, 2017 — U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 43 strikes consisting of 45 engagements, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Operation Inherent resolve

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 39 strikes consisting of 41 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed an ISIS headquarters.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, nine strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and destroyed two tactical vehicles, an ISIS fuel station and a fighting position.

-- Near Raqqa, 29 strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit; destroyed 21 fighting positions, a vehicle-borne bomb and an ISIS unmanned aerial system; and suppressed four ISIS tactical units.

Strikes in Iraq

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

-- Near Huwayjah, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed two weapons caches, two heavy machine guns, two bunkers, an ISIS headquarters, a vehicle-borne-bomb facility and a tunnel system.

-- Near Qaim, a strike destroyed an ISIS staging area.

-- Near Rawah, a strike destroyed an improvised explosive device facility.

Previous Strikes

Additionally, eight strikes consisting of 12 engagements were conducted in Syria and Iraq on Sept. 11-12 that closed within the last 24 hours.

-- On Sept. 11, near Raqqa, Syria, a strike destroyed an ISIS fighting position.

-- On Sept. 12, near Huwayjah, Iraq, two strikes destroyed four ISIS tunnels, an anti-air artillery system, a mortar system, a weapons cache, an improvised explosive device facility, a command-and-control node and a staging area.

-- On Sept. 12, near Raqqa, Syria, five strikes destroyed 19 ISIS vehicles and suppressed a fighting position.

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.