SOUTHWEST ASIA, Sept. 20, 2017 — U.S. and coalition military
forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday,
conducting 44 strikes consisting of 50 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
Near Raqqa, coalition military forces conducted 30 strikes
consisting of 32 engagements against ISIS targets. The strikes engaged six ISIS
tactical units and destroyed 28 fighting positions, three vehicles, two ISIS
communications infrastructure items and an ISIS headquarters.
Strikes in Iraq
In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted 14 strikes
consisting of 18 engagements against ISIS targets:
-- Near Qaim, two strikes destroyed an ISIS headquarters and
a weapons storage area.
-- Near Huwijah, five strikes engaged two ISIS tactical
units; destroyed three tunnels, two ISIS headquarters, two command-and-control
nodes, a vehicle, a tractor, and a vehicle-borne improvised bomb facility; and
damaged two supply routes.
-- Near Rawah, seven strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units
and destroyed two mortar systems, two weapons caches, an improvised explosive
device, a staging area, and a vehicle.
Additional Strikes
Additionally, 51 strikes consisting of 53 engagements were
conducted in Syria and Iraq on Sept. 17-18 that closed within the last 24 hours
for which the information was not available in time for yesterday’s report:
-- On Sept. 17, near Raqqa, Syria, three strikes destroyed
seven fighting positions.
-- On Sept. 18, near Dayr Az Zawr, Syria, four strikes
engaged an ISIS tactical unit and damaged three supply routes.
-- On Sept. 18, near Raqqa, Syria, 42 strikes engaged 23
ISIS tactical units; destroyed 23 fighting positions, eight vehicles, three
VBIEDs, two ISIS unmanned aerial systems, and a command-and-control node; and
suppressed four fighting positions.
-- On Sept. 18, near Huwayjah, Iraq, two strikes illuminated
tactical areas.
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.
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