Inherent Resolve Strikes Target ISIS in Syria, Iraq

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Dec. 11, 2017 — U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria over the last three days, conducting 14 strikes consisting of 27 engagements, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

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

Strikes in Syria

On Dec. 8 in Syria, coalition military forces conducted two strikes consisting of three engagements against ISIS targets near Abu Kamal. The strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a tactical vehicle and a fighting position.

On Dec. 9 in Syria, coalition military forces conducted three strikes consisting of five engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed an ISIS vehicle and an ISIS line of communication.

-- Near Shadaddi, a strike engaged an ISIS mortar team.

On Dec. 10 in Syria, coalition military forces conducted eight strikes consisting of 13 engagements against ISIS targets near Abu Kamal. The strikes engaged eight ISIS tactical units and destroyed two fighting positions, a mortar system, a tactical vehicle and an ISIS headquarters.

Strike in Iraq

On Dec. 9 in Iraq, coalition military forces conducted a strike consisting of six engagements against ISIS targets near Tuz. The strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS truck.

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.