Officials Provide Details of Latest Strikes Against ISIS

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Oct. 2, 2017 — U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria over the weekend, conducting 69 strikes consisting of 88 engagements, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of the weekend's strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Sept. 30 Strikes in Syria

In Syria on  Sept. 30, coalition military forces conducted 33 strikes consisting of 38 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, three strikes destroyed an ISIS wellhead and engaged two tactical units.

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

-- Near Raqqa, 29 strikes engaged seven ISIS tactical units, destroyed 20 fighting positions and a supply route, and suppressed 10 fighting positions.

Strikes Yesterday in Syria

In Syria yesterday, coalition military forces conducted 25 strikes consisting of 28 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, two strikes destroyed two ISIS wellheads and a fighting position.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, three strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed two headquarters.

-- Near Raqqa, 20 strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed 16 fighting positions, 11 vehicles; and disrupted two supply routes.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq on Sept. 30, coalition military forces conducted 10 strikes consisting of 15 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Beiji, five strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed four weapons caches and two mortar systems.

-- Near Huwija, three strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed 10 vehicles and two command-and-control nodes.

-- Near Rawah, a strike destroyed an ISIS vehicle-borne-bomb factory.

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

Coalition military forces conducted one strike consisting of seven engagements against ISIS targets in Iraq yesterday. The strike, near Huwija, engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed two weapons caches, two command and control nodes, a vehicle-borne bomb factory and a vehicle-borne bomb and suppressed a tactical unit.

Previous Strikes

Officials also provided details today on 15 strikes consisting of 28 engagements conducted earlier for which the information was not previously available:

-- On Aug. 2 near Raqqa, two strikes destroyed two ISIS fighting positions and suppressed four fighting positions.

-- On Aug. 3 near Raqqa, five strikes suppressed 10 ISIS fighting positions.

-- On Aug. 4 near Raqqa, two strikes suppressed seven ISIS fighting positions.

-- On Sept. 29 near Beiji, two strikes destroyed three ISIS fighting positions, a vehicle and a generator.

-- On Sept. 29 near Raqqa, four strikes destroyed four ISIS supply routes and four communication networks.

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.