Officials Provide Details of Latest Counter-ISIL Strikes

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, February 23, 2016 – U.S. and coalition military forces have continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of the latest strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

Ground-attack, attack and fighter aircraft conducted 11 strikes in Syria:

-- Near Hasakah, five strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed six ISIL buildings, suppressed two ISIL sniper positions and two ISIL fighting positions, and damaged an ISIL building.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, five strikes struck six ISIL gas and oil separation plant wellheads.

-- Near Manbij, one strike destroyed two ISIL buildings.

Strikes in Iraq

Fighter aircraft conducted 15 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq's government:

-- Near Baghdadi, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL supply cache and an ISIL staging area.

-- Near Kisik, seven strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit, three ISIL staging areas, an ISIL headquarters, an ISIL bed down location, and suppressed an ISIL rocket position.

-- Near Makhmur, one strike destroyed an ISIL assembly area.

-- Near Mosul, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and suppressed an ISIL mortar position.

-- Near Ramadi, two strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units.

-- Near Sinjar, one strike suppressed an ISIL light machine gun position.

-- Near Tal Afar, one strike suppressed an ISIL light machine gun position.

Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do 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.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the group's ability to project terror and conduct operations.

Coalition nations conducting strikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations conducting strikes in Syria include the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.