Inherent Resolve Strikes Target ISIS in Syria, Iraq

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Oct. 11, 2017 — U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 16 strikes consisting of 22 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 eight strikes consisting of eight engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed two ISIS vehicles and two trailers.

-- Near Ash Shaddadi, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and an armored vehicle.

-- Near Raqqa, five strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and destroyed a logistical node.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted eight strikes consisting of 14 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Qaim, three strikes destroyed an ISIS fuel point, a weapons cache, four ISIS-held buildings and 36 vehicles.

-- Near Rawa, five strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units, damaged a supply route; and destroyed seven vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices, a VBIED factory, a heavy machine gun, an ISIS-held building and a vehicle.

Oct. 9 Strikes

Additionally, four strikes consisting of 15 engagements were conducted in Syria and Iraq on Oct. 9 for which the information was not previously available:

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, Syria, three strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units; and destroyed two headquarters structures, a logistics node and a fighting position.

-- Near Qaim, a strike destroyed two ISIS weapons storage facilities, a VBIED factory, six staging areas and a headquarters structure.

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.