SOUTHWEST ASIA–(ENEWSPF)–May 22, 2017 — U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 22 strikes consisting of 72 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 18 strikes consisting of 29 engagements against ISIS targets:
- Near Dayr Az Zawr, four strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed three ISIS barges, two ISIS wellheads, a vehicle, an ISIS oil storage tank and an ISIS oil processing equipment item.
- Near Raqqa, 13 strikes engaged 12 ISIS tactical units and destroyed 11 fighting positions, nine vehicles, two supply caches, a mortar system, an ISIS headquarters; and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.
- Near Tabqah, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed two fighting positions.
Strikes in Iraq
In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted four strikes consisting of 43 engagements against ISIS targets:
- Near Kirkuk, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed two fighting positions.
- Near Mosul, three strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units and a sniper; destroyed 18 fighting positions, nine medium machine guns, six vehicle bombs, four rocket systems, three rocket-propelled grenade systems, three heavy machine guns, a command-and-control node, a vehicle, a supply cache, a mortar system and a tunnel; damaged 15 ISIS supply roads, a fighting position; and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.
Additionally, two strikes were conducted in Syria and Iraq on May 20 that closed within the last 24 hours:
- Near Raqqa, Syria, a strike destroyed an ISIS headquarters and an ISIS staging area.
- Near Mosul, Iraq, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed four vehicles, two heavy machine guns, two fighting positions and two vehicle bombs.
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
