SOUTHWEST ASIA–(ENEWSPF)–March 7, 2017 — U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, 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 21 strikes consisting of 31 engagements against ISIS targets:
- Near Abu Kamal, two strikes destroyed a gas-oil separation plant and damaged a bridge.
- Near Dayr Az Zawr, 16 strikes destroyed nine wellheads, six fighting positions, three oil inlet manifolds, three barges, a pumpjack and a shipping container and damaged three supply routes and two bridges.
- Near Raqqa, a strike destroyed a footbridge and an ISIS-held building.
- Near Shadaddi, a strike destroyed an ISIS headquarters.
Strikes in Iraq
In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted 11 strikes consisting of 61 engagements against ISIS targets, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:
- Near Huwayjah, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and an ISIS staging area and destroyed a tunnel complex.
- Near Mosul, five strikes engaged five ISIS tactical units; destroyed nine fighting positions, five vehicle-borne bombs, four vehicles, three roadblocks, two mortar systems, two tactical vehicles, two rocket-propelled-grenade systems, a supply cache, an artillery system, a sniper position, an unmanned aerial vehicle launch site and a vehicle bomb factory; damaged 23 vehicles, 10 supply routes and a tunnel; and suppressed two mortar teams.
- Near Qaim, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an anti-air artillery system and a vehicle.
- Near Sinjar, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle.
- Near Tal Afar, a strike destroyed a mortar system.
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
