PRESS RELEASE | Aug. 23, 2016
August 23: Military airstrikes continue against ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq
CJTF-OIR

Southwest Asia – August 23, 2016
Release # 20160823-01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOUTHWEST ASIA — On Aug. 22, coalition military forces conducted 16 strikes against ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq. In Syria, coalition military forces conducted eight strikes using bomber and attack aircraft against ISIL targets. Additionally in Iraq, coalition military forces conducted eight strikes coordinated with and in support of the Government of Iraq using rocket artillery and fighter aircraft against ISIL targets.

The following is a summary of the strikes conducted against ISIL since the last press release:

Syria

* Near Abu Kamal, one strike struck an ISIL wellhead.
* Near Ar Raqqah, one strike destroyed an ISIL workover rig, a pump jack, and an oil tanker truck.
* Near Dayr Az Zawr, two strikes struck an ISIL wellhead and a staging area.
* Near Manbij, four strikes struck four ISIL tactical units, and destroyed a fighting position.

Iraq

* Near Al Baghdadi, one strike destroyed an ISIL repeater tower.
* Near Haditha, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroyed a fighting position, and damaged a tunnel entrance.
* Near Kisik, one strike destroyed an ISIL vehicle and a tunnel entrance.
* Near Qayyarah, four strikes struck an ISIL training camp, destroyed two rocket rails, a fighting position, two mortar positions, a tunnel entrance, two assembly areas, an anti-air artillery system, six repeater tower generators, a communications tower, suppressed a rocket firing position, two mortar firing positions and denied access to terrain.
* Near Ramadi, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a fighting position.

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, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.