Military Strikes Hit ISIS Terrorists in Syria, Iraq

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve and its partners continued to strike Islamic State of Iraq and Syria targets in designated parts of Syria and Iraq between April 20-26, conducting 26 strikes consisting of 34 engagements, officials reported today.

Strikes in Syria

The following strikes took place in Syria:

-- On April 25, coalition military forces conducted four strikes consisting of four engagements against ISIS targets. Near Abu Kamal, three strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS weapons staging area. Near Shadaddi, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit.

-- On April 24, coalition military forces conducted five strikes consisting of six engagements against ISIS targets. Near Abu Kamal, four strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit, destroying three ISIS fighting positions and an ISIS vehicle and damaging a fighting position. Near Shadaddi, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS vehicle.

-- On April 23, coalition military forces conducted nine strikes consisting of 12 engagements against ISIS targets. Near Abu Kamal, three strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed three ISIS vehicles. Near Shadaddi, six strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed five ISIS vehicles.

-- On April 20 near Abu Kamal, coalition military forces conducted three strikes consisting of three engagements against ISIS targets, destroying an ISIS fighting position and a motorcycle.

Strikes in Iraq

The following strikes took place in Iraq:

On April 25, coalition military forces conducted three strikes consisting of three engagements against ISIS targets. Near Mosul, a strike destroyed an ISIS-held building. Near Huwayjah, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit. Near Tuz, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit.

-- On April 23 near Tal Afar, coalition military forces conducted a strike consisting of four engagements against ISIS targets, destroying an ISIS-held building.

-- On April 21 near Kirkuk, coalition military forces conducted a strike consisting of two engagements against ISIS targets, destroying five ISIS tunnels, two weapons caches and an ISIS-held building.

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 ground-based tactical artillery, officials noted.

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.