Counter-ISIS Strikes Target Terrorists in Syria, Iraq

May 08, 2017

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U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 33 strikes consisting of 84 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 25 strikes consisting of 31 engagements against ISIS targets:

• Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed an ISIS wellhead and an ISIS oil storage tank.
• Near Dayr Az Zawr, four strikes destroyed four ISIS wellheads, a unmanned aerial system storage building and a vehicle.
• Near Palmyra, a strike destroyed a tunnel entrance.
• Near Raqqa, four strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed 13 ISIS barges and two excavators.
• Near Tabqah, 15 strikes engaged seven ISIS tactical units and destroyed eight fighting positions and a vehicle.

Strikes in Iraq
In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted eight strikes consisting of 53 engagements against ISIS targets:

• Near Qaim, a strike destroyed an ISIS staging area.
• Near Mosul, six strikes engaged five ISIS tactical units and a sniper team; destroyed six fighting positions, four rocket-propelled grenade systems, four vehicle bombs, three medium machine guns, two tactical vehicles, two supply caches, two heavy machine guns, two anti-air artillery systems, two vehicles, a mortar system, a recoilless rifle, a ISIS staging area; damaged 10 ISIS supply routes, seven fighting positions; and suppressed two mortar teams.
• Near Rutbah, a strike destroyed inoperable equipment.

Additionally, three strikes were conducted in Syria on May 6 that closed within the last 24 hours:

• Near Tabqah, three strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed two fighting positions and a supply cache.

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.

Source : AFPS