Latest Military Report from Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve: Lisa Fernando
Iraqi forces are making significant progress in isolating Mosul, as part of efforts to liberate the northern Iraqi city from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the Defense Department’s press operations chief told reporters at the Pentagon today.
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 aircraft and rocket artillery conducted two strikes in Syria:
— Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed two oil pumpjacks.
— Near Raqqah, a strike engaged an ISIL headquarters building.
Strikes in Iraq
Attack, bomber aircraft and rocket artillery conducted three strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:
— Near Mosul, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit, destroying four ISIL-held buildings, two vehicles, a vehicle bomb, a mortar system, and a rocket-propelled grenade. A bridge was disabled, and an ISIL tactical unit, a mortar system and a heavy machine gun were suppressed.
— Near Rawah, two strikes engaged an ISIL vehicle bomb staging area and destroyed a bunker.
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.