PRESS RELEASE | Dec. 31, 2016
December 31: Military airstrikes continue against ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq
CJTFOIR

December 31, 2016
Release # 20161231-01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOUTHWEST ASIA — On Dec. 30, Coalition military forces conducted 28 strikes against ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq. In Syria, Coalition military forces conducted 21 strikes using attack, bomber, and fighter aircraft against ISIL targets. Additionally in Iraq, Coalition military forces conducted seven strikes coordinated with and in support of the government of Iraq using attack, bomber, fighter, rotary, and remotely piloted aircraft as well as rocket artillery against ISIL targets.

Syria
* Near Ar Raqqah, 17 strikes engaged 14 ISIL tactical units; destroyed 12 fighting positions, three oil storage tanks, a VBIED, and an oil well head; damaged two supply routes; and suppressed a tactical unit.
* Near At Tanf, four strikes destroyed two VBIEDs.

Iraq
* Near Al Huwayjah, one strike destroyed an ISIL-held building.
* Near Haditha, one strike damaged a fighting position.
* Near Mosul, four strikes engaged three ISIL tactical units; destroyed five fighting positions, three mortar systems, three ISIL-held buildings, a vehicle, a crane, a weapons factory, a VBIED, and a mortar position; damaged 12 supply routes; and suppressed four mortar positions.
* Near Qayyarah, one strike destroyed an ISIL weapons storage facility.

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.