Operation Roundup Targets ISIS Remnants in Iraq, Syria

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve and its partners have increased offensive activity against Islamic State of Iraq and Syria targets throughout May, task force officials reported today.

On May 1, the Syrian Democratic Forces announced the resumption of major offensive operations in the middle Euphrates River valley, officials said. Since then, they added, the SDF has continued to gain ground through offensive operations, coupled with precision coalition strike support.

During the first 24 days of May, the coalition conducted 184 strikes with 231 engagements. This demonstrates a 147 percent increase over the 74 strikes conducted in March, officials said, and surpassed OIR’s strike tempo of 183 strikes recorded for all of April.

The combined joint task force and its partner forces continue to exert pressure on senior ISIS leaders and associates in order to degrade, disrupt and dismantle the terrorist group’s structures and remove terrorists from Iraq and Syria, officials said, adding that ISIS morale is sinking on the front lines as privileged leaders increasingly abandon their own fighters on the battlefield, taking resources with them as they flee.

Over the coming weeks, coalition officials said, Operation Roundup will continue to build momentum against ISIS remnants remaining in the Iraq-Syria border region and the middle Euphrates River valley.

Coalition military forces conducted 52 strikes May 18-24, consisting of 70 engagements in Iraq and Syria:

May 24 Strikes

On May 24 in Syria, coalition military forces conducted six strikes consisting of seven engagements near Abu Kamal, engaging an ISIS tactical unit and destroying three ISIS-held buildings and an ISIS weapons cache.

On May 24 in Iraq, coalition military forces conducted two strikes consisting of four engagements against ISIS targets. Near Qayyarah, a strike destroyed three ISIS caves, and near Baghdad, a strike destroyed five ISIS tunnels.

May 23 Strikes

On May 23 in Syria, coalition military forces conducted 17 strikes consisting of 30 engagements against ISIS targets. Near Abu Kamal, 15 strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed four ISIS-held buildings, four ISIS fighting positions, an ISIS vehicle and two ISIS command-and-control centers. Near Shadaddi, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS anti-aircraft weapon, two ISIS fighting positions and two ISIS belts rigged with explosives.

On May 23 near Rutbah, Iraq, coalition military forces conducted a strike consisting of one engagement, destroying an ISIS safe house.

May 22 Strikes

On May 22 in Syria, coalition military forces conducted six strikes consisting of eight engagements against ISIS targets. Near Abu Kamal, five strikes destroyed an ISIS fighting position, and near Shadaddi, a strike destroyed one ISIS tunnel system.

May 21 Strikes

On May 21 in Syria, coalition military forces conducted three strikes consisting of three engagements against ISIS targets. Near Abu Kamal, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS command-and-control center and an ISIS improvised-explosive-device factory. Near Shadaddi, a strike destroyed an ISIS supply cache and an ISIS tunnel system.

May 20 Strikes

On May 20 near Abu Kamal in Syria, coalition military forces conducted three strikes consisting of three engagements against ISIS targets, engaging an ISIS tactical unit and destroying an ISIS fighting position and an ISIS supply route.

On May 20 in Iraq, Coalition military forces conducted one strike consisting of one engagement against ISIS targets near Tal Afar. The strike destroyed two ISIS tunnels.

May 19 Strikes

On May 19 in Syria, coalition military forces conducted nine strikes consisting of nine engagements against ISIS targets near Abu Kamal, engaging an ISIS tactical unit and destroying an ISIS command-and-control center.

May 18 Strikes

On May 18 in Syria, coalition military forces conducted two strikes consisting of two engagements against ISIS targets near Abu Kamal, engaging an ISIS tactical unit and destroying two ISIS command-and-control centers.

On May 18 in Iraq, coalition military forces conducted two strikes consisting of two engagements against ISIS targets. A strike near Qayyarah engaged an ISIS tactical unit, and a strike near Rawah, destroyed an ISIS-held building.

Definition of Strikes

The coalition’s strike report contains all strikes conducted by fighter, attack, bomber, rotary-wing, or remotely piloted aircraft, rocket propelled artillery and ground-based tactical artillery.

A strike, as defined by coalition officials, refers to one or more kinetic engagements that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative effect in that location. For example, 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.

Task force officials do 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.  

U.S. in ‘Wait and See’ Position After Iraq Election, Mattis Says

By Terri Moon Cronk, DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON -- The victory of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s party in Iraq’s recent election has put the United States in a wait-and-see position, Defense Secretary James N. Mattis told reporters yesterday in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The secretary was in Colorado to preside at the change-of-command ceremony for North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command.

“History tells us that all wars eventually end, and the decisions you take following a war -- comparing the United States leadership after World War II, versus what came out of Versailles after World War I -- can set the conditions for the future,” the secretary said, adding that in this case, the United States must first see who is going to be the prime minister, because no party or coalition won enough to govern Iraq on its own.

After World War II

“First, all wars eventually come to an end. By 1948, '49, after the vicious World War II, the Pacific Island Campaign was as vicious a fighting between two nations that's ever been in history,” Mattis said. “We all know what Germany did during World War II with death camps [and] with invasions across Europe.”

And yet, by 1948 and 1949, he said, “we were standing up NATO to defend Western Europe, and we were working with Germany.”

“The Marshall Plan was underway,” Mattis said. “We were [also] working with Japan.” Germany and Japan now are U.S. treaty allies, he noted.

Mattis pointed out that despite the rout of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, some terrorists remain in Iraq. “But it was interesting, wasn't it, that in the midst of everything going on next door in Syria, having recently destroyed the ISIS strongholds in Iraq – they are still isolated cells of them, of course,” the secretary said.

A Responsive Government

The secretary reiterated the United States will have to see whether the new Iraqi leaders form a responsive government.

Mattis noted the Marshall Plan was met with initial skepticism.

“People in 1944 were told basically in five years we'll be serving alongside German troops and sending locomotives and railroad tracks to Germany,” he said. “We would have laughed in your face, said that's not going to happen; this is a war to the death. Damn near lost.”

But that's exactly what we did, he noted.

“So wars rub the veneer off all of us and leave the passions really exposed, and now it's time for strategic thinking, for looking to the future, and determining how the Iraqi people can dictate their future,” the secretary said, “not external threats from Iran, not money from Iran, not internal threats from ISIS or other terrorists.

“This is between our two governments, and we'll see what government they end up with,” Mattis said. “So we'll play that forward. It's too early to tell.”

Coalition Trainers in Iraq Helping ‘Make a Good Force Better’

By Jim Garamone, DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON -- The coalition training effort in Iraq is all about “making a good force better,” said Italian army Brig. Gen. Roberto Vannacci, the deputy commanding general for training for Operation Inherent Resolve's Joint Forces Land Component Command in Iraq.

Iraqi security forces continue to press the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria by rooting out and destroying pockets of ISIS terrorists in the country. From the nadir when ISIS was knocking on the gates of Baghdad, Iraqi forces have taken on the terror group and liberated almost all of the territory the group once held.

The trainers of the coalition’s Operation Inherent Resolve gave Iraqi security forces the training they needed to expel the violent extremist group, Vannacci said during a video teleconference from Baghdad to reporters in the Pentagon.

“By all measures, the Iraqi security forces have already proven that they are more than ready and capable of securing the country,” Vannacci said. “On May the 12th, Iraq's first national election since the rise of ISIS was held peacefully despite repeated warnings from ISIS of their intent to use violence to discourage Iraqis from voting. This is mostly thanks to the training and preparations conducted by Iraqi security forces to ensure that all Iraqis were able to exercise their right to vote free from fear of harm.”

Vannacci said the coalition continues the mission to train and equip Iraqi security forces, to ensure the lasting defeat of ISIS, and to set the conditions for full-on stabilization efforts.

“To date, more than 150,000 Iraqi security forces have been trained across multiple locations in Iraq,” the general said.

That training runs the gamut from full-on combat to policing to stabilization, he said.

Demining, Lifesaver Training

In addition to basic combat skills, the coalition trainers have also stressed demining operations and combat lifesaver training. “In Western Baghdad, more than 25,000 police and border guard personnel have been trained in law enforcement and border security procedures,” Vannacci said.

And, more than 18,000 members of Iraq’s elite counterterrorism force received coalition training, the general said.

The coalition also trains and equips the Iraqi air force, Vannacci said. This, he said, includes training Iraqis to fly and maintain their aircraft.

Training the Iraqi forces is a multinational effort, the general said. “Australian forces in Taji and Spanish forces in Bismayah are training ground troops,” Vannacci said. “In the Kurdish region and in western Baghdad, Italian personnel are training army and police forces. Also, German forces are providing training in the Kurdish region while Danish forces are leading the training in Al Asad Air Base.”

The coalition has also provided Iraqi forces with more than $2 billion in equipment, the general said.

Providing Equipment

“Seventeen Iraqi army brigades have been provided with initial equipment sets, including personal equipment, small arms, ammunition, around 1,000 nontactical vehicles and over 1,100 armored vehicles,” Vannacci said.

Efforts to train police and border guards continue apace with the coalition providing additional equipment to around 20 federal police and border force brigades, including provisioning more than 180 prefabricated, border guard and police presence infrastructure since the beginning of 2018, he said.

The coalition has also provided more than 400 explosive detection and demining kits to assist in the detection and removal of improvised explosive devices, Vannacci said.

Iraqi security forces have shown their worth as part of the coalition by conducting strikes in Syria, where they targeted ISIS activity designed to export violence, the general said.

“The hard-fought victories in Ramadi, Mosul and Tel Afar prove that the Iraqi security forces have always been capable of fighting for the freedom of all Iraqis,” Vannacci said. “The coalition's goal is simply to make a good force better and to enhance to capability of the Iraqi security forces to ensure Iraq's lasting peace and security. By all measures, they are well on their way.”