DoD Identifies Army Soldier Listed as Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown

The Department of Defense announced today the identity of a soldier listed as Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown (DUSTWUN). The announcement resulted from an Aug. 25 training incident off the coast of Yemen, where the soldier was supporting U.S. Central Command operations.

   

Staff Sgt. Emil Rivera-Lopez is listed as DUSTWUN from the Aug. 25 incident. The incident is under investigation.

   

For more information regarding Staff Sgt. Emil Rivera-Lopez, media may contact the U.S. Central Command Public Affairs Office at 813-529-0220.

Military Strikes Continue Against ISIS in Syria, Iraq

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Aug. 31, 2017 — U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 31 strikes consisting of 51 engagements, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

U.S. Central Command continues to work with partner nations to conduct targeted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria as part of the comprehensive strategy to degrade and defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.

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 21 strikes consisting of 41 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, three strikes destroyed eight ISIS oil stills and damaged five supply routes.

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

-- Near Raqqa, 17 strikes engaged 11 ISIS tactical units and destroyed 15 fighting positions, two command-and-control nodes, a logistics node and an improvised explosive device factory.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted 10 strikes consisting of 10 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Huwayjah, a strike destroyed two ISIS-held buildings and an explosives cache.

-- Near Qaim, a strike destroyed an ISIS headquarters.

-- Near Tal Afar, eight strikes engaged six ISIS tactical units; destroyed 36 fighting positions, three heavy machine guns, two medium machine guns, two weapons caches, a command-and-control node and an ISIS-held building; and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.

Additional Strikes

Additionally, 26 strikes consisting of 59 engagements were conducted in Syria and Iraq on June 18 and Aug. 28-29 that closed within the last 24 hours:

-- On June 18, near Raqqa, Syria, three strikes destroyed six fighting positions.

-- On Aug. 28, near Raqqa, Syria, three strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed five fighting positions.

-- On Aug. 29, near Raqqa, Syria, 16 strikes engaged nine ISIS tactical units and destroyed nine fighting positions, a vehicle-borne bomb, a heavy machine gun and a command-and-control node.

-- On Aug. 29, near Rawah, Iraq, two strikes destroyed two vehicle-borne-bomb facilities.

-- On Aug. 29, near Tal Afar, Iraq, two strikes suppressed four ISIS tactical units.

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.

Partnered Forces Confronting, Defeating ISIS Evil, OIR Commander Says

By Jim Garamone DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31, 2017 — There is evil in the world, and good people of all faiths and nations have joined together and made progress against the evil that is the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, the commander of Operation Inherent Resolve said today.

Army Lt. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, commander of Operation Inherent Resolve, speaks with a reporter at the tactical assembly area near Mosul, Iraq, March 19, 2017. Army photo by Spc. Ethan Hutchinson

Army Lt. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, who also commands the Army's 18th Airborne Corps, told Pentagon reporters via satellite from Baghdad that ISIS "is the most evil entity I have encountered in my lifetime."

In 2014, ISIS swept across Syria and Iraq and declared it as the heart of the new caliphate, with a capital in the Syrian city of Raqqa. "They did not hide their atrocities," the general said. "They tortured, beheaded and burned those that did not agree with them. They posted the evidence of their evil for the world to see on social media. They enslaved millions under their twisted ideology."

Iraqi security forces were at first overmatched and were backed up to Baghdad and Kurdistan. Iraq asked for help, and a coalition led by the United States formed against ISIS. Coalition forces helped train and equip Iraqi security forces, and they provided the air support needed to keep ISIS from making any further gains.

"To date, more than 110,000 Iraqi security forces have been trained and equipped by the coalition to defeat ISIS in Iraq," Townsend said.

Iraqis Take the Offensive

Those forces were ready to take the offensive against ISIS in late 2015. They liberated Tikrit, Ramadi, Fallujah, Qayyarah, Sharkot and countless smaller villages. "When the 18th Airborne Corps arrived last August, the liberation of Mosul was just an idea and colored lines on a map," the general said. "The nine-month-long liberation battle for Mosul was not an easy task. It was a brutal urban fight."

Iraqi security forces took on ISIS in the city the terrorists considered the jewel in their crown in Iraq. Mosul tested the Iraqis and they passed with flying colors, Townsend said.

"The Iraqi security forces and the Kurdish peshmerga set the example for all of Iraq," he said. "They proved how resilient and powerful they can be. They put their differences aside and worked together toward a common goal."

As Townsend spoke, Iraqi leaders announced yet another victory over ISIS, this time in Tal Afar.

The Iraqis could not have done this without coalition support, and the coalition of more than 60 nations "was there every step of the way" to provide that support, Townsend said. "But make no mistake about it -- this is an Iraqi plan," he added. "This is Iraqis liberating Iraqis."

Progress in Syria

In Syria, the Syrian Democratic Forces have gone from almost being pushed out of the country to pushing into Raqqa, the general told reporters.

"The fighting is difficult, but they have made much progress, and I have no doubt they will succeed," he said. "You have to remember that the Syrian Democratic Forces are not the Iraqi security forces. They do not have tanks, helicopters or fighter jets. They are really an irregular light infantry force with a comparative handful of light armored vehicles and heavy weapons who, with coalition assistance, are fighting well above their weight class. They have been and remain the most effective counter-ISIS fighting force in Syria."

In short, the strategy drawn up in the early days of ISIS success in 2014 worked, Townsend said. "Our partners in Iraq and Syria, with coalition help, have made substantial accomplishments in the fight to defeat ISIS," he added. "Together, we have liberated approximately 75,000 square kilometers of ISIS-held terrain, and, more importantly, 5.5 million citizens had been liberated from ISIS captivity."

Townsend, who will pass on command next week to Army Lt. Gen. Paul E. Funk II, the 3rd  Corps commander from Fort Hood, Texas, said much remains to be done.

"The coalition is strong, united, and we remain committed to our partners to bring a lasting defeat to ISIS in Iraq and Syria, to prevent ISIS from exporting their terror around the world, and to protect our own homelands," he said. "I am proud of all we have accomplished thus far, and I'm confident Lieutenant General Funk and his team will continue to help our partners take the fight to ISIS."