Military, National

Military Strikes Target ISIS Terrorists in Syria, Iraq, May 5, 2017


war on terror

SOUTHWEST ASIA–(ENEWSPF)–May 5, 2017 — U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 20 strikes consisting of 81 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 10 strikes consisting of 14 engagements against ISIS targets:

  • Near Abu Kamal, two strikes destroyed four ISIS wellheads.
  • Near Dayr Az Zawr, a strike destroyed five ISIS oil storage tanks and three ISIS oil distillation tanks.
  • Near Palmyra, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit.
  • Near Raqqah, three strikes destroyed a front-end loader and an ISIS wellhead.
  • Near Tabqah, three strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed two fighting positons and a vehicle.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted 10 strikes consisting of 67 engagements against ISIS targets:

  • Near Qaim, a strike destroyed a front-end loader.
  • Near Kirkuk, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a fighting position.
  • Near Mosul, seven strikes engaged seven ISIS tactical units and a sniper team; destroyed nine mortar systems, nine fighting positions, two heavy machine guns, two tactical vehicles, two ISIS-held buildings, an anti-air artillery system, an artillery system, a command-and-control node, a vehicle bomb, an ISIS bridge, a front-end loader, a weapons cache, a rocket system a vehicle bomb factory; damaged 23 ISIS supply routes, three fighting positions; and suppressed six mortar teams.
  • Near Tal Afar, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit.

Additionally, two strikes were conducted in Syria on May 3 that closed within the last 24 hours:

  • Near Shadaddi, Syria, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS-held building.
  • Near Tabqah, Syria, a strike destroyed a fighting position.

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


ARCHIVES