Officials Provide Details of Latest Counter-ISIL Strikes in Syria, Iraq

SOUTHWEST ASIA, April 3, 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 four strikes in Syria:

-- Near Manbij, two strikes destroyed an ISIL rocket rail system and two ISIL fighting positions.

-- Near Mara, two strikes struck a large ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle bomb.

Strikes in Iraq

Rocket artillery and attack, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 22 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of the Iraqi government:

-- Near Fallujah, a strike struck a large ISIL tactical unit.

-- Near Haditha, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL heavy machine gun.

-- Near Hit, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying a bridge ISIL had used, an ISIL vehicle bomb factory, 22 ISIL boats and an ISIL beddown location and denying ISIL access to terrain.

-- Near Kirkuk, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed two ISIL assembly areas, an ISIL mortar system, an ISIL vehicle bomb and an ISIL vehicle.

-- Near Mosul, six strikes struck six separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed two ISIL assembly areas, an ISIL machine gun and two ISIL vehicles.

-- Near Qayyarah, six strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and an ISIL weapons storage facility and destroyed four ISIL mortar firing positions, an ISIL supply cache, an ISIL vehicle bomb production facility and 13 ISIL staging areas.

-- Near Rawah, a strike destroyed an ISIL tactical vehicle.

-- Near Sultan Abdallah, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed four ISIL assembly areas and an ISIL vehicle.

-- Near Tal Afar, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL mortar system.

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

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