U.S., Coalition Continue Strikes Against ISIS

SOUTHWEST ASIA, April 20, 2017 — U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 26 strikes consisting of 66 engagements, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

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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 17 strikes consisting of 19 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Qaim, a strike destroyed a vehicle-bomb factory.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, six strikes destroyed six ISIS wellheads and two ISIS oil equipment items.

-- Near Raqqa, three strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a front-end loader and a fighting position.

-- Near Tabqah, seven strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units; destroyed five ISIS oil tankers, two command-and-control nodes, two fighting positions, a tunnel, an ISIS-held building and a vehicle-bomb facility; and damaged a fighting position.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted nine strikes consisting of 47 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Qaim, a strike destroyed a heavy machine gun and an ISIS vehicle.

-- Near Mosul, seven strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and destroyed five vehicle bombs, five front-end loaders, four mortar systems, a medium machine gun and a vehicle-bomb factory.

-- Near Tal Afar, a strike destroyed an ISIS tactical vehicle.

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.