Officials Release Details of Latest Strikes Against ISIS Terrorists in Syria, Iraq

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Nov. 6, 2017 — U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, conducting 14 strikes consisting of 33 engagements Nov. 4-5, 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.

Strikes in Syria

Yesterday in Syria, coalition military forces conducted six strikes consisting of seven engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, four strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units and destroyed three ISIS missiles.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, two strikes destroyed an ISIS line of communication and a fighting position.

On Nov. 4, coalition military forces conducted six strikes consisting of 23 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed two ISIS-held buildings, a command-and-control node, a weapons cache and an ISIS motorcycle.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, four strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units and destroyed four fighting positions, two lines of communication, three ISIS vehicles, two fighting positions, a vehicle-borne bomb and an explosive hazard.

Strikes in Iraq

Yesterday in Iraq, coalition military forces conducted a strike consisting of two engagements against ISIS targets near Qayyarah, which destroyed two weapons caches.

On Nov. 4, coalition military forces conducted a strike consisting of one engagement against ISIS targets near Qaim, which engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS-held building.

Previous Strikes

Additionally, coalition military forces conducted 11 strikes consisting of 12 engagements in Syria on Nov. 3:

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

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, nine strikes engaged eight ISIS tactical units and destroyed five explosive hazards, four ISIS fighting positions, a command-and-control center and an ISIS motorcycle.

-- Near Shaddadi, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS fighting position.

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.