U.S., Coalition Continue Strikes to Defeat ISIS in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Sept. 3, 2017 — U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 23 strikes consisting of 31 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 22 strikes consisting of 30 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Hawl, A strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle-borne bomb.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed four oil stills.

-- Near Raqqa, 19 strikes engaged five ISIS tactical units and destroyed five fighting positions, four logistics nodes, three improvised explosive devices, two staging areas, a mortar system, a vehicle and a command-and-control node.

Officials also reported results today from 14 strikes consisting of 20 engagements conducted Sept. 1 in Syria for which the information was not available in time for yesterday's report:

-- Near Hawl, a strike destroyed an ISIS unmanned aircraft system.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle.

-- Near Raqqa 12 strikes engaged five ISIS tactical units and destroyed four command-and-control nodes, four logistics nodes, three fighting positions, three vehjicle-borne IEDs and two heavy machine guns.

Strike in Iraq

In Iraq a single-engagement strike near Qaim destroyed a vehicle-borne-IED facility.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.