Military Strikes Continue Against ISIS Terrorists in Syria, Iraq

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Sept. 30, 2017 — U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 34 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 28 strikes consisting of 32 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, three strikes engaged four ISIS units and destroyed three vehicles.

-- Near Raqqa, 25 strikes engaged seven ISIS tactical units and destroyed 21 fighting positions, 17 vehicles and a heavy machine gun.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted six strikes consisting of 11 engagements against ISIS targets:

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

-- Near Beiji, a strike suppressed an ISIS tactical unit and a mortar team.

-- Near Huwijah, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed two tunnels; and damaged four ISIS supply routes.

-- Near Tuz, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed a tactical vehicle, a heavy machine gun and a fighting position.

Previous Strikes

Additionally, 19 strikes consisting of 42 engagements were conducted in Syria and Iraq on Sept. 10-28 that closed within the last 24 hours:

-- On Sept. 10, near Raqqa, Syria, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit.

-- On Sept. 14, near Raqqa, Syria, a strike destroyed an ISIS fighting position.

-- On Sept. 18, near Raqqa, Syria, a strike destroyed an ISIS fighting position.

-- On Sept. 24, near Raqqa, Syria, a strike destroyed an ISIS fighting position.

-- On Sept. 27, near Raqqa, Syria, four strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed a vehicle, a logistics node and a headquarters.

-- On Sept. 28, near Asad, Iraq, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed six vehicles.

-- On Sept. 28, near Huwijah, Iraq, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed 29 vehicles, seven fighting positions, two tunnel entrances, two weapons caches, a command-and-control node, a staging area, a medium machine gun, a headquarters and an ISIS-held building.

-- On Sept. 28, near Raqqa, Syria, eight strikes destroyed two ISIS fighting positions; and suppressed six 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.