PRESS RELEASE | April 1, 2016
April 1: Military airstrikes continue against ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq
April 01, 2016
Release # 20160401-01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SOUTHWEST ASIA — On March 31, coalition military forces continued to attack ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq. In Syria, coalition military forces conducted five strikes using attack and ground-attack aircraft against ISIL targets. Additionally in Iraq, Coalition military forces conducted 12 strikes coordinated with and in support of the Government of Iraq using rocket artillery and fighter and remotely piloted aircraft against ISIL targets.
The following is a summary of the strikes conducted against ISIL since the last press release:
Syria
* Near Ayn Isa, three strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL fighting position and an ISIL vehicle borne improvised explosive device (VBIED).
* Near Dayr Az Zawr, one strike destroyed two ISIL bulldozers.
* Near Mar’a, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed two ISIL fighting positions
Iraq
* Near Habbaniyah, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.
* Near Hit, three strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL VBIED, two ISIL VBIED factories, an ISIL vehicle, an ISIL anti-air artillery staging area, and nine ISIL tunnel entrances and denied ISIL access to terrain.
* Near Kirkuk, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed two ISIL assembly areas.
* Near Mosul, two strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed two ISIL assembly areas and five ISIL vehicles.
* Near Qayyarah, two strikes destroyed an ISIL tactical vehicle and an ISIL mortar firing position and suppressed two separate ISIL mortar firing positions.
* Near Ramadi, one strike destroyed two ISIL VBIEDs.
* Near Sinjar, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL assembly area.
* Near Sultan Abdallah, one strike destroyed three ISIL tunnel systems and three ISIL assembly areas.
Strike assessments are based on initial reports. All aircraft returned to base safely.
A strike, as defined in the CJTF releases, means one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative effect for that location. So having a single aircraft deliver a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of buildings and vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making that facility (or facilities) harder or impossible to use. Accordingly, CJTF-OIR 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.
Ground-based artillery fired in counter-fire or in fire support to maneuver roles are not classified as a strike as defined by CJTF-OIR.
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 which have conducted strikes in Iraq include Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Coalition nations which have conducted strikes in Syria include Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.