Inherent Resolve Strikes Target ISIS in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Sept. 7, 2017 — U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 16 strikes consisting of 30 engagements, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

U.S. Central Command continues to work with partner nations to conduct targeted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria as part of the comprehensive strategy to degrade and defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.

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 eight strikes consisting of 15 engagements against ISIS targets near Raqqa yesterday, destroying 13 ISIS fighting positions, damaging five fighting positions and suppressing two fighting positions.

Officials also provided details today on 41 strikes consisting of 47 engagements conducted in Syria in recent days for which the information was not yet available at the time of yesterday's report:

-- On Sept. 3 near Raqqa, 10 strikes engaged seven ISIS tactical units and destroyed nine fighting positions.

-- On Sept. 4 near Raqqa, 15 strikes engaged 10 ISIS tactical units and destroyed five fighting positions and a vehicle.

-- On Sept. 5 near Dayr Az Zawr, a strike destroyed 42 ISIS fuel trucks, four front-end loaders and four tactical vehicles.

-- On Sept. 5 near Raqqa, 15 strikes engaged eight ISIS tactical units and destroyed 15 fighting positions, two vehicles, an improvised explosive device and a piece of ISIS engineering equipment.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted eight strikes consisting of 15 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Huwayjah, four strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed five oil stills, two ISIS-held buildings, two ISIS headquarters and a front-end loader.

-- Near Qaim, a strike destroyed two ISIS front-end loaders.

-- Near Anah, two strikes destroyed an ISIS headquarters and an ISIS communication node.

-- Near Rawah, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS-held building.

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.