Strikes Continue in Effort to Defeat ISIS in Syria, Iraq

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Sept. 19, 2017 — U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 13 strikes consisting of 21 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

In Syria, coalition military forces conducted six strikes consisting of six engagements against ISIS targets near Raqqa. The strikes destroyed 25 ISIS vehicles, five fighting positions, a command-and control-node and a logistics node.

Strikes in Iraq

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

-- Near Qaim, a strike destroyed an ISIS headquarters.

-- Near Haditha, a strike destroyed ISIS engineering equipment and a vehicle.

-- Near Huwijah, three strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed four heavy machine guns, three fighting positions, a tactical vehicle, a bunker, a front-end loader, a mortar system, a staging area and an ISIS headquarters.

-- Near Rawah, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit, destroyed a vehicle and an ISIS-held building, and damaged a supply route.

Sept. 17 Strikes

Officials today also provided details on 12 strikes consisting of 14 engagements conducted Sept. 17 in Syria and Iraq for which the information was not available in time for yesterday's report:

-- Near Raqqa, seven strikes destroyed six ISIS fighting positions and a logistics node.

-- Near Qaim, a strike destroyed an ISIS tactical vehicle and a tactical vehicle storage facility.

-- Near Huwijah, two strikes destroyed a vehicle-borne-bomb facility and an ISIS weapons cache.

-- Near Rawah, a strike destroyed an ISIS staging area.

-- Near Rutbah, Iraq, a strike destroyed an ISIS weapons cache.

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.