Officials Provide Details of Latest Strikes Against ISIS

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Nov. 20, 2017 — U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, conducting 16 strikes consisting of 29 engagements Nov. 17-19, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

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

There were no reported strikes conducted on Nov. 19 in Iraq or Syria.

Strikes in Syria

On Nov. 18 in Syria, coalition military forces conducted three strikes consisting of three engagements against ISIS targets:

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

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

On Nov. 17 in Syria, coalition military forces conducted four strikes consisting of five engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, three strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device, a tactical vehicle and an ISIS construction vehicle.

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

Strikes in Iraq

On Nov. 18 in Iraq, coalition military forces conducted five strikes consisting of 17 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Beiji, two strikes destroyed two ISIS tunnels.

-- Near Rawah, two strikes facilitated effective harassing fire on ISIS targets.

-- Near Qayyarah, one strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed 14 ISIS-held buildings and an ISIS vehicle.

On Nov. 17 in Iraq, coalition military forces conducted four strikes consisting of four engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Beiji, a strike destroyed an ISIS-held building and a fighting position.

-- Near Rawah, a strike destroyed an IED factory.

-- Near Qayyarah, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed an ISIS weapons cache.

Previous Strikes

Officials also provided details today on 17 earlier strikes and 17 engagements against ISIS in Syria and Iraq for which the information was not previously available:

-- On July 30, near Raqqa, Syria, three strikes damaged three ISIS fighting positions.

-- On July 31, near Raqqa, Syria, three strikes damaged three ISIS fighting positions.

-- On Nov. 16, near Al Qaim, Iraq, three strikes facilitated effective harassing fire on ISIS targets.

-- On Nov. 16, near Rawah, Iraq, seven strikes destroyed five ISIS supply routes and facilitated effective harassing fire on ISIS targets.

-- On July 17, near Qara Tapa, Iraq, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed two weapons caches and an ISIS tunnel.

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.