PRESS RELEASE | Nov. 26, 2016
November 26: Military airstrikes continue against ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq
CJTFOIR

November 26, 2016
Release # 20161126-01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOUTHWEST ASIA — On Nov. 25, Coalition military forces conducted 23 strikes against ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq. In Syria, Coalition military forces conducted 15 strikes using attack, fighter, bomber, and remotely piloted aircraft against ISIL targets. Additionally in Iraq, Coalition military forces conducted eight strikes coordinated with and in support of the Government of Iraq using attack, fighter, rotary, and remotely piloted aircraft, and against ISIL targets.

Syria
* Near Abu Kamal, three strikes destroyed four oil well heads and an oil pump jack.
* Near Ar Raqqah, six strikes engaged five ISIL tactical units and a storage facility; destroyed two vehicles, a command and control node, and a fighting position.
* Near Ayn Isa, one strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit.
* Near Dayr Az Zawr, two strikes destroyed three oil refinement equipment pieces, three oil storage tanks, and an oil well head.
* Near Manbij, three strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed three fighting positions.

Iraq
* Near Al Huwayjah, one strike engaged a VBIED facility.
* Near Haditha, one strike destroyed a VBIED.
* Near Mosul, five strikes engaged three ISIL tactical units; destroyed three vehicles, three ISIL-held buildings, three mortar systems, a VBIED facility, a VBIED, a supply cache, a watercraft, and a fighting position; degraded a VBIED facility and seven roads; and suppressed a mortar system.
* Near Tal Afar, one strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle.

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. The information used to compile the daily strike releases is based on ‘Z’ or Greenwich Mean Time.
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.