Military Strikes Continue Against ISIS Terrorists in Syria, Iraq

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Jan. 5, 2018 — U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria between Dec. 29, 2017, and yesterday, conducting 58 strikes consisting of 84 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 Jan. 4, near Abu Kamal in Syria, coalition military forces conducted four strikes consisting of five engagements against ISIS target, destroying an ISIS supply route, a fighting position and a vehicle-borne bomb.

On Jan. 3, near Abu Kamal, coalition military forces conducted nine strikes consisting of 12 engagements against ISIS targets, destroying two ISIS lines of communication, a heavy weapon, four fighting positions, an ISIS vehicle, a logistics center and an ISIS supply route.

On Jan. 2, near Abu Kamal, coalition military forces conducted nine strikes consisting of 10 engagements against ISIS targets, destroying an ISIS supply route, an indirect fire weapon, two fighting positions, two heavy machine guns, two unmanned aerial vehicles and an ISIS line of communication.

On Jan. 1, near Abu Kamal, coalition military forces conducted four strikes consisting of six engagements against ISIS targets, destroying an ISIS command-and-control center, two fighting positions, an ISIS vehicle, two heavy machine guns and three ISIS tunnel entrances.

On Dec. 31, near Abu Kamal, coalition military forces conducted eight strikes consisting of eight engagements against ISIS targets, destroying a heavy weapon, an ISIS headquarters, eight ISIS supply routes, a fighting position and two ISIS-held buildings.

On Dec. 30, near Abu Kamal, coalition military forces conducted 10 strikes consisting of 17 engagements against ISIS targets, destroying two ISIS command-and-control centers, a fighting position, an ISIS headquarters and two ISIS vehicles.

On Dec. 29 near Abu Kamal, coalition military forces conducted 10 strikes consisting of 15 engagements against ISIS targets, destroying nine ISIS fighting positions and two logistics centers.

Strikes in Iraq

There were no reported strikes conducted in Iraq Jan. 1-4.

On Dec. 31, near Beiji, coalition military forces conducted a strike consisting of four engagements against ISIS targets, destroying an ISIS fighting position.

On Dec. 30, coalition military forces conducted three strikes consisting of seven engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Beiji, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS tunnel system.

-- Near Mosul, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed five ISIS fighting positions, two tunnel entrances and a weapons cache.

There were no reported strikes conducted in Iraq Dec. 29, 2017.

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.