Strikes Hit ISIL Terrorists in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, February 9, 2016 — U.S. and coalition military forces have continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of the latest strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

Attack aircraft conducted three strikes in Syria:

-- Near Kobani, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.

-- Near Manbij, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.

-- Near Mar’a, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL fighting position.

Strikes in Iraq

Coalition forces used rocket artillery and attack, fighter, and remotely piloted aircraft to conduct 18 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:

-- Near Baghdadi, seven strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and three ISIL staging areas, denied ISIL access to terrain, and destroyed two ISIL rockets, an ISIL weapons cache, an ISIL front-end loader, an ISIL heavy machine gun, and an ISIL vehicle.

-- Near Huwayjah, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.

-- Near Fallujah, a strike destroyed an ISIL-used bridge.

-- Near Mosul, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed five ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL mortar tube, and an ISIL vehicle.

-- Near Qayyarah, two strikes struck an ISIL logistics facility and destroyed four ISIL fighting positions.

-- Near Ramadi, three strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units, denied ISIL access to terrain, and destroyed three ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL staging area, and two ISIL boats.

-- Near Sultan Abdallah, a strike destroyed two ISIL fighting positions.

-- Near Tal Afar, a strike suppressed an ISIL rocket position.

Additionally, a strike in Iraq from Feb. 7 was not included on the Feb. 8 strike release:

-- Near Ramadi, a strike struck a large ISIL tactical unit and destroyed three ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL heavy machine gun, and an ISIL boat.

Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is a strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they 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.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, the region, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.

Coalition nations conducting strikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations conducting strikes in Syria include the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.

Carter Appreciates Canada’s Counter-ISIL Efforts, Press Secretary Says

By Terri Moon Cronk DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, February 8, 2016 — As Defense Secretary Ash Carter prepares to travel to Brussels this week to encourage greater contributions by NATO allies to accelerate the defeat of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Canada today announced it will step up its counter-ISIL efforts, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook told reporters.

Cook said Canada will triple its training in Northern Iraq, double intelligence efforts and adjust humanitarian and development contributions. The Canadian military also will continue its air campaign and refuel aerial surveillance aircraft, he added.

“The secretary sees these as significant contributions, and he greatly appreciates the decision by the [Prime Minister Pierre] Trudeau government to step up Canada’s role in the campaign at this critical time,” he said.

NATO Meeting

Canada’s announcement coming on the heels of last week’s decision by the Dutch to join the air campaign in Syria, adds momentum to what Carter will ask of other nations during his 4th NATO Ministerial.

“As the secretary has said, the United States is willing to lead the coalition and the fight against ISIL, but the barbaric group poses a threat to every nation, so every nation should join the fight,” Cook said. Nations unable to contribute militarily should consider financial or humanitarian contributions and help to rebuild war-torn areas such as Ramadi, he added.

The secretary’s NATO agenda will also include President Barack Obama’s decision to quadruple funding for the European Reassurance Initiative, which would enable the United States to strengthen its robust military presence in Europe, enhance partner capabilities, and improve U.S. ability to uphold Article 5 commitments to NATO members, Cook said

North Korean Missile Launch

North Korea’s missile launch this weekend “represents yet another destabilizing and provocative action that only undermines peace and stability in the region,” Cook said.

And because the United States is committed to its regional allies’ security, “We will take all necessary steps to defend ourselves and our allies and respond to North Korean provocations,” Cook said.

Based on North Korea’s evolving threats, the U.S.-South Korea alliance will examine its missile defense posture and the feasibility of U.S. Forces Korea operating a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system as soon as possible, he said.

THAAD provides the Ballistic Missile Defense System with a globally transportable, rapidly deployable capability to intercept and destroy ballistic missiles inside or outside the atmosphere during their final, or terminal, phase of flight, according to DOD’s Missile Defense Agency website.

Budget Request to Debut

With the debut of the $582.7 billion fiscal year 2017 Defense Budget proposal tomorrow, Cook reminded reporters that Carter said, “Today's security environment is dramatically different than the one we've been engaged with for the last 25 years and it requires new ways of thinking and new ways of acting.”

While the defense budget request meets existing and future challenges and highlights “critical” defense investments, it also offers reforms to ensure taxpayers “get the most bangs for their buck,” he said.

Centcom Spokesman: Counter-ISIL Momentum Attracts New Tribal Forces

By Cheryl Pellerin DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, February 5, 2016 — For Iraqis in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, success against the terrorist group is attracting local tribal forces to their ranks, a U.S. Central Command spokesman said today.

Air Force Col. Patrick Ryder briefed the Pentagon press corps by telephone from MacDill Air Force Base in Florida about several small operations that are playing a role in the counter-ISIL fight in Iraq and Syria.

Over the past few months the coalition has enabled small joint Iraqi operations in provinces such as Anbar, Kirkuk, Diyala and Ninawa.

“As momentum against ISIL builds we're seeing local tribal resistance forces throughout these provinces joining with [Iraqi security forces] and [Kurdish security forces] to combat the terrorist group and push them out … and the coalition is enabling these joint operations,” Ryder said.

Critical Operations

Carrying out these critical joint operations are indigenous ground forces made up of, for example, Iraqi forces that include fighters from the counterterrorism service and federal police, Kurdish forces like the Peshmerga, and tribal forces that include Sunnis, Turkmen and others fighting ISIL, Ryder said.

One joint operation begun earlier this week between Beiji and Mosul involved a combination of Iraqi forces, Ninawa tribal fighters and support from the Peshmerga, all enabled by coalition air strikes, he said.

The operation liberated a couple of villages and killed a large number of enemy fighters, Ryder said, adding that it was an example of momentum seen in the Tigris River Valley that has developed from other successful operations in Beiji.

Another success is the deleterious effect on ISIL of several layers of pressure applied against them at the strategic, operational and tactical levels, he said.

Persistent Swarm

“When you combine these operations with other larger operations we're enabling, such as the Syrian Democratic Forces, operations in northern Syria from the Tishreen Dam to Hasakah, or [Iraqi] operations in Ramadi, you can see that operationally ISIL is under significant pressure,” Ryder said.

Added to that are strategic layers of pressure from strikes against their logistics centers, command-and-control centers, financial centers, leadership, supply line and methods of making money, he said, “and you can see that ISIL has to contend with several layers of pressure being applied to them simultaneously across Iraq and Syria, like a persistent swarm.”

Ryder added, “The overall effect on ISIL is that the terror group is weakening operationally and tactically in Iraq and Syria.”

But Ryder noted that military operations aren’t the only focus of coalition train-and-advise efforts.

Sense of Normalcy

“Retaking key population centers is not the end of an operations,” he said, “it's the beginning and the prelude to the requirement by indigenous forces to provide security, basic services and the return to a sense of normalcy for local civilians.”

Ryder said coalition members are focused on building Iraq's combat power through the Building Partner Capacity program to help Iraqis acquire the added military capability they need to continue fighting ISIL.

“In line with holding or taking territory, we also focus on building Iraq's capacity to secure newly liberated areas, which is why you see us training federal police,” he added.

The coalition has trained nearly 18,000 Iraqi forces, which include about 2,000 federal police already trained or in training, Ryder said.