Inherent Resolve Strikes Target ISIS in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Sept. 2, 2017 — U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 25 strikes consisting of 43 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 22 strikes consisting of 40 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, five strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed 11 oil stills, four vehicles, an ISIS-held building, a bulldozer, a fuel truck and an artillery system.

-- Near Raqqa, 17 strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and destroyed 16 fighting positions, three logistics nodes, two command and control nodes, and a vehicle-borne bomb.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted three strikes consisting of three engagements against ISIS targets near Qaim, destroying two ISIS fuel storage sites, an ISIS-held building, a front-end loader, a weapons storage area and an excavator.

Previous Strikes

Officials also provided results today of 15 strikes consisting of 20 engagements conducted near Raqqa on Aug. 30-31 for which the information was not yet available in time for yesterday's report:

-- On Aug. 30, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed a fighting position.

-- On Aug. 31, 13 strikes engaged five ISIS tactical units and destroyed four fighting positions, three command-and-control nodes and a tunnel.

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.