Strikes Continue Against ISIS Terrorists in Syria, Iraq

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Nov. 17, 2017 — U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, conducting 34 strikes consisting of 56 engagements Nov. 13-16, 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 five strikes consisting of 10 engagements against ISIS targets near Dayr Az Zawr. The strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and destroyed an ISIS vehicle and three explosive hazards.

On Nov. 15, coalition military forces conducted a strike consisting of three engagements against ISIS targets near Dayr Az Zawr. The strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit.

On Nov. 14, coalition military forces conducted four strikes consisting of seven engagements against ISIS targets near Dayr Az Zawr. The strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and destroyed three explosive hazards, two fighting positions and a command-and-control center.

On Nov. 13, coalition military forces conducted three strikes consisting of three engagements against ISIS targets:

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

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

Strikes in Iraq

Yesterday in Iraq, coalition military forces conducted five strikes consisting of five engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Qayyarah, three strikes destroyed three ISIS-held buildings.

-- Near Rawah, two strikes destroyed an ISIS improvised explosive device facility and an artillery piece.

On Nov. 15, coalition military forces conducted four strikes consisting of seven engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Qayyarah, a strike destroyed a vehicle-borne bomb factory.

-- Near Rawah, three strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units, destroyed four ISIS vehicles and damaged a fighting position.

On Nov. 14, coalition military forces conducted eight strikes consisting of 17 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Qaim, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed two ISIS vehicles, a weapons cache, a vehicle-borne-bomb factory and two suicide vests.

-- Near Qayyarah, a strike destroyed an ISIS supply route.

-- Near Ramadi, a strike destroyed an ISIS bunker and four ISIS vehicles.

-- Near Rawah, five strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle-borne-bomb factory, an ISIS-held building, a weapons cache and an ISIS headquarters and facilitated effective fire on ISIS targets.

On Nov. 13, coalition military forces conducted four strikes consisting of four engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Qaim, a strike destroyed a vehicle-borne-bomb factory.

-- Near Rawah, three strikes destroyed two ISIS tractor-trailers and two vehicle-borne-bomb factories.

Previous Strikes

Additionally, coalition military forces conducted a strike consisting of one engagement near Qaim, Iraq on Nov. 11. The strike destroyed an ISIS supply route.

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.