PRESS RELEASE | May 18, 2017
May 18: Military airstrikes continue against ISIS terrorists in Syria and Iraq
CJTFOIR

May 18, 2017
Release # 20170518-02
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOUTHWEST ASIA — On May 17, Coalition military forces conducted 32 strikes consisting of 101 engagements against ISIS terrorists in Syria and Iraq.

In Syria, Coalition military forces conducted 22 strikes consisting of 32 engagements against ISIS targets.
•Near Abu Kamal, seven strikes destroyed seven ISIS well heads, four fighting positions, a front-end loader and a mortar system.
•Near Al Hawl, one strike destroyed a mortar system and a fighting position.
•Near Dayr Az Zawr, two strikes destroyed four ISIS fuel trucks and a vehicle.
•Near Raqqah, 11 strikes engaged eight ISIS tactical units; destroyed five fighting positions, three mortar systems, three vehicles, two ISIS fuel trucks, and an ISIS headquarters; and damaged an ISIS supply route.
•Near Tabqah, one strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a fighting position.

In Iraq, Coalition military forces conducted 10 strikes consisting of 69 engagements against ISIS targets.
•Near Mosul, six strikes engaged five ISIS tactical units; destroyed eight fighting positions, four medium machine guns, four mortar systems, four VBIEDs, four rocket systems, three vehicles, three rocket-propelled grenade systems, two ISIS-held buildings, two heavy machine guns, two ISIS staging areas, a supply cache, an anti-air artillery system, an ISIS fuel truck, a VBIED facility, and a fighting position; damaged 16 supply routes and four rocket systems; and suppressed two mortar teams and an ISIS tactical unit.
•Near Sinjar, one strike destroyed a tank.
•Near Tal Afar, three strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a UAS factory, an IED factory, and an ISIS staging area.

Additionally, two strikes were conducted in Syria on May 16th that closed within the last 24 hours.
•Near Abu Kamal, one strike destroyed four oil processing equipment items.
•Near Raqqah, one strike damaged an ISIS supply route.

These strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to destroy ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The destruction of ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria also further limits the group’s ability to project terror and conduct external operations throughout the region and the rest of the world.

This Coalition strike release contains all strikes conducted by fighter, attack, bomber, rotary-wing, or remotely piloted aircraft, rocket propelled artillery and ground-based tactical artillery.

A strike, as defined in the Coalition release, refers to one or more kinetic engagements that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative effect in that location. For example, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIS vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of ISIS-held buildings and weapon systems in a compound, having the cumulative effect of making that facility harder or impossible to use. Strike assessments are based on initial reports and may be refined.

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.