SOUTHWEST ASIA–(ENEWSPF)–June 23, 2017 — U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 32 strikes consisting of 103 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 28 strikes consisting of 49 engagements against ISIS targets:
- Near Abu Kamal, seven strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed nine ISIS oil stills, four dump trucks, three cement mixers, three vehicles, three tactical vehicles, two cranes, a weapons cache, a pumpjack and a manifold.
- Near Dayr Az Zawr, a strike destroyed six ISIS oil stills.
- Near Palmyra, a strike destroyed four ISIS tunnel entrances.
- Near Raqqa, 19 strikes engaged 14 ISIS tactical units; destroyed 12 fighting positions, two vehicles and an improvised explosive device cache; and damaged an ISIS supply route.
Strikes in Iraq
In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted four strikes consisting of 54 engagements against ISIS targets:
- Near Beiji, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed six tactical vehicles and four ISIS staging areas.
- Near Mosul, three strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units and a sniper; destroyed 16 fighting positions, eight medium machine guns, three mortar systems, an artillery system, an ISIS-held building and a rocket-propelled grenade system; damaged a fighting position; and suppressed two mortar teams and an ISIS tactical unit.
June 21 Strikes
Additionally, three strikes were conducted in Syria and Iraq on June 21 that closed within the last 24 hours.
- Near Mosul, Iraq, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit.
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