Officials Provide Details of Latest Strikes Against ISIS

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Oct. 9, 2017 — U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria over the last two days, conducting 95 strikes consisting of 109 engagements Oct. 7 and yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of those strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Oct. 7 Strikes in Syria

In Syria on Oct. 7, coalition military forces conducted 53 strikes consisting of 56 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed an ISIS tactical unit and a vehicle.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, a strike destroyed an ISIS command-and-control network.

-- Near Raqqa, 51 strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units; destroyed 50 fighting positions, a tactical vehicle, six vehicles, a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device and four command-and-control networks.

Yesterday's Strikes in Syria

Coalition military forces conducted 25 strikes consisting of 30 engagements against ISIS targets in Syria yesterday:

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

-- Near Raqqa, 24 strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units, destroyed 15 fighting positions, 11 vehicles, a vehicle-borne IED, a machine gun and four command-and-control networks.

Oct. 7 Strikes in Iraq

On Oct. 7, coalition military forces conducted 10 strikes consisting of 16 engagements against ISIS targets in Iraq:

-- Near Qaim, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a headquarters and a vehicle.

-- Near Bashir, a strike destroyed an ISIS tactical vehicle.

-- Near Hit, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a tunnel system.

-- Near Rawa, four strikes destroyed an ISIS headquarters, a vehicle-borne IED and a weapons cache.

-- Near Tuz, a strike destroyed four ISIS-held buildings.

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

Yesterday's Strikes in Iraq

Coalition military forces conducted seven strikes consisting of seven engagements against ISIS targets in Iraq yesterday:

-- Near Qaim, three strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed a vehicle.

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

-- Near Rawa, three strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed three staging areas, a headquarters and a vehicle.

Previous Strikes

Officials also provided details today on 25 strikes consisting of 31 engagements conducted Oct. 5 and 6 in Syria and Iraq for which the information was not previously available:

-- On Oct 5 near Raqqa, a strike damaged an ISIS fighting position.

-- On Oct 6 near Huwija, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit.

-- On Oct. 6, near Raqqa, 23 strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed 17 fighting positions, six vehicles, a vehicle-borne IED and an ISIS supply road.

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.