SOUTHWEST ASIA–(ENEWSPF)–March 10, 2017 — U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, conducting 22 strikes consisting of 82 engagements against ISIS targets 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 14 strikes consisting of 21 engagements against ISIS targets:
- Near Dayr Az Zawr, six strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit; destroyed five barges, four wellheads and a weapons factory; and damaged an ISIS-held building.
- Near Raqqa, 13 strikes engaged eight ISIS tactical units; destroyed four vehicles, a fighting position, a tactical vehicle, an ISIS headquarters and a vehicle-borne bomb factory; and damaged three supply routes.
Strikes in Iraq
In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted eight strikes consisting of 61 engagements against ISIS targets, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:
- Near Beiji, three strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed two fighting positions, two vehicles and a weapons cache.
- Near Huwayjah, a strike damaged a tunnel.
- Near Mosul, six strikes engaged five ISIS tactical units and an ISIS staging area; destroyed 11 vehicles, nine mortar systems, eight fighting positions, five vehicle-borne bombs, two medium machine guns, two roadblocks, two watercraft, an anti-air artillery system, a supply cache, an ammunition cache and a recoilless rifle; damaged 15 supply routes; and suppressed 10 mortar teams.
- Near Sinjar, two strikes destroyed a weapons storage facility and an ISIS headquarters
- Near Tal Afar, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and an ISIS staging area.
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
