Inherent Resolve Strikes Target ISIS in Syria, Iraq

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Oct. 7, 2017 — U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 26 strikes consisting of 40 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 20 strikes consisting of 24 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Shadaddi, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, two strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units and destroyed a defensive fighting position, a heavy machine gun and a vehicle.

-- Near Raqqa, 17 strikes engaged six ISIS tactical units and destroyed a command-and-control node, seven fighting positions, two vehicles, two communication infrastructures and a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device; damaged two fighting positions, two communication infrastructures and two ISIS supply routes; and suppressed a fighting position.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted six strikes consisting of 16 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Qaim, a strike destroyed a vehicle-borne IED.

-- Near Bashir, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a weapons cache.

-- Near Huwija, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle and a road block.

-- Near Taji, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle.

-- Near Rawa, two strikes engaged two improvised bridges and destroyed an ISIS building.

Additional Oct. 5 Strikes

Officials also provided details today of 11 strikes consisting of 11 engagements conducted Oct. 5 in Syria for which the information was previously unavailable:

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, Syria, a strike engaged a fighting position.

-- Near Raqqa, 10 strikes disrupted three ISIS supply routes, damaged five fighting positions, destroyed a fighting position, and suppressed a fighting position and an ISIS tactical unit.

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.