SOUTHWEST ASIA–(ENEWSPF)–July 25, 2017 — U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 27 strikes consisting of 29 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 27 engagements against ISIS targets:
- Near Abu Kamal, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle.
- Near Dayr Az Zawr, five strikes destroyed 14 ISIS oil stills and five wellheads.
- Near Raqqa, 12 strikes engaged nine ISIS tactical units; destroyed seven fighting positions, a vehicle-borne bomb and a mortar system; and damaged a fighting position.
- Near Shadaddi, seven strikes engaged five ISIS tactical units and destroyed two staging areas, two command-and-control nodes, an improvised-bomb storage area, an observation post and a fighting position.
Strikes in Iraq
In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted two strikes consisting of two engagements against ISIS targets:
- Near Qaim, a strike suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.
- Near Rawah, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a supply cache.
Previous Strikes
Additionally, officials reported details today on 13 previous strikes that were unavailable at the time of previous reports.
- A July 20 strike near Raqqa engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a fighting position.
- On July 23 near Raqqa, nine strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units; destroyed six fighting positions, a vehicle and a tunnel entrance; and damaged a supply route.
- Three July 23 strikes near Kisik, Iraq, engaged an ISIS tactical unit, destroyed a fighting position and suppressed a mortar team.
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: http://defense.gov
