Inherent Resolve Strikes Target ISIS in Syria, Iraq

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Sept. 28, 2017 — U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 44 strikes consisting of 66 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 35 strikes consisting of 39 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, two strikes destroyed four ISIS supply routes and an ISIS headquarters.

-- Near Raqqa, 33 strikes engaged 10 ISIS tactical units and destroyed 23 fighting positions, a vehicle and an ISIS headquarters and suppressed three ISIS tactical units.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted nine strikes consisting of 27 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Qaim, three strikes destroyed two weapons caches and an ISIS headquarters.

-- Near Huwijah, four strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed six vehicles, an ISIS-held building, a command-and-control node, an ISIS staging area and a vehicle-borne bomb.

-- Near Ramadi, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed six tactical vehicles and two vehicles.

Sept. 26 Strikes

Officials also provided details today on eight Sept. 26 strikes, consisting of 10 engagements conducted in Syria and Iraq, for which the information was not previously available:

-- Near Huwijah, Iraq, a strike destroyed 60 vehicles.

-- Near Raqqa, Syria, seven strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed 16 vehicle-borne bombs, three vehicles, two ISIS supply routes and a fighting position and suppressed two other 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.