Military Strikes Continue Against ISIS Terrorists in Syria, Iraq

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Dec. 8, 2017 — U.S. and coalition military forces have continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, conducting 18 strikes consisting of 40 engagements against ISIS terrorists in Syria between Dec. 4 and yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force

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

Strikes in Syria

Yesterday in Syria, coalition military forces conducted five strikes against ISIS targets near Abu Kamal, engaging four ISIS tactical units and destroying an ISIS headquarters, two fighting positions and an ISIS vehicle.

On Dec. 6, coalition military forces conducted four strikes against ISIS targets near Abu Kamal, engaging two ISIS tactical units and destroying three ISIS vehicles, 13 ISIS watercraft and two ISIS-held buildings.

On Dec. 5, coalition military forces conducted eight strikes against ISIS targets near Abu Kamal, engaging eight ISIS tactical units and destroying 17 ISIS watercraft, an improvised explosive device, an ISIS line of communication, an ISIS headquarters, a heavy weapon, an ISIS vehicle and an ISIS motorcycle.

On Dec. 4, coalition military forces conducted a strike against ISIS targets near Abu Kamal, engaging an ISIS tactical unit and destroying an ISIS fighting position.

Strikes in Iraq

There were no strikes reported in Iraq Dec. 4-7.

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.