U.S., Coalition Continue Strikes to Defeat ISIS in Syria, Iraq

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Oct. 5, 2017 — U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 37 strikes consisting of 47 engagements, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of yesterday's strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

In Syria, coalition military forces conducted 28 strikes consisting of 31 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, five strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and destroyed four vehicles and a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device.

-- Near Raqqa, 23 strikes engaged six ISIS tactical units; destroyed two communications systems, 17 fighting positions, a command-and-control node, two logistics nodes, four ISIS oil stills and three ISIS oil trucks; and suppressed two fighting positions.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted nine strikes consisting of 16 engagements against ISIS targets:

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

-- Near Qaim, two strikes destroyed an ISIS weapons cache and a vehicle-borne-IED factory.

-- Near Huwija, six strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units, suppressed four ISIS oil stills, and destroyed five ISIS oil tanks, an IED facility, a vehicle-borne IED, a weapons cache, a vehicle, a fighting position and three ISIS-held buildings.

Previous Strikes

Officials also provided details today on 14 earlier strikes near Raqqa consisting of 14 engagements for which the information was not previously available:

-- On Oct. 2, 10 strikes engaged 10 ISIS tactical units.

-- On Oct. 3, four strikes destroyed three ISIS fighting positions and a vehicle-borne IED.

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.