Officials Provide Details of Latest Strikes Against ISIS

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Dec. 4, 2017 — U.S. and coalition military forces have continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, conducting 33 strikes consisting of 49 engagements between Dec. 1 and yesterday, 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

Yesterday in Syria, coalition military forces conducted five strikes against ISIS targets near Abu Kamal, engaging three ISIS tactical units and destroying two ISIS vehicles, two heavy weapons and three fighting positions.

On Dec. 2, coalition military forces conducted 11 strikes against ISIS targets near Abu Kamal, engaging 11 ISIS tactical units and destroying eight ISIS vehicles, a heavy weapon, an ISIS fighting position and five explosive hazards.

On Dec. 1, coalition military forces conducted 12 strikes against ISIS targets near Abu Kamal, engaging 13 ISIS tactical units and destroying four ISIS vehicles, a tactical vehicle, an ISIS fighting position, an indirect fire weapon and a heavy weapon.

Strikes in Iraq

Yesterday in Iraq, coalition military forces conducted a strike consisting of two engagements near Rutbah that destroyed an ISIS-held building.

On Dec. 2, coalition military forces conducted four strikes consisting of four engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Asad, a strike destroyed two ISIS supply routes.

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

-- Near Taji, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit.

There were no strikes reported in Iraq on Dec. 1.

Previous Strikes

Additionally, a strike consisting of one engagement was conducted on Nov. 30 near Abu Kamal. The strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS vehicle.

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.