Counter-ISIL Strikes Target Terrorists in Syria, Iraq

Compiled from Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Releases

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Dec. 5, 2016 – U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq 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

Attack, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 11 strikes in Syria:

-- Near Abu Kamal, two strikes destroyed two oil manifold valves.

-- Near Shadaddi, a strike destroyed an ISIL command-and-control node.

-- Near Raqqa, three strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a weapons production facility, a vehicle and a bulldozer.

-- Near Ayn Isa, a strike destroyed an ISIL mortar system.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, two strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed two fighting positions, a vehicle and an oil wellhead.

-- Near Manbij, two strikes destroyed an ISIL bulldozer and a vehicle bomb.

Strikes in Iraq

Attack, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 10 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq's government:

-- Near Asad, a strike destroyed an ISIL vehicle bomb.

-- Near Bashir, a strike destroyed an ISIL-held building and an anti-air artillery system.

-- Near Beiji, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a bunker.

-- Near Mosul, five strikes engaged four ISIL tactical units, destroying seven mortar systems, four ISIL-held buildings, two vehicles, a vehicle bomb factory and a front-end loader. Thirty-one supply routes were damaged.

-- Near Qayyarah, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle and a weapons system.

-- Near Tal Afar, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a building.

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. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike.

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 it poses to Iraq, Syria, the region and the wider international community. The destruction of targets in Syria and Iraq further limits ISIL's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.

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