PRESS RELEASE | Jan. 17, 2016
Jan. 17: Military airstrikes continue against ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq
January 17, 2016

Release # 20160117-01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOUTHWEST ASIA — On Jan. 16, coalition military forces continued to attack ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq. In Syria, coalition military forces conducted three strikes using remotely piloted aircraft. Separately in Iraq, coalition military forces conducted 26 strikes coordinated with and in support of the Government of Iraq using rocket artillery and ground-attack, attack, fighter, bomber, 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 Ar Raqqah, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.
* Near Manbij, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.
* Near Mar’a, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.

Iraq
* Near Albu Hayat, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed three ISIL command and control nodes.
* Near Kisik, three strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL heavy machine gun, an ISIL fighting position, and denied ISIL access to terrain.
* Near Mosul, 10 strikes struck seven separate ISIL tactical units and an ISIL-used culvert and destroyed three ISIL vehicles, 34 ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL weapons caches, three ISIL assembly areas, three ISIL bunkers, and wounded two ISIL fighters.
* Near Qayyarah, four strikes struck an ISIL weapons manufacturing facility and an ISIL-used culvert and destroyed an ISIL crude oil heater and denied ISIL access to terrain.
* Near Ramadi, five strikes struck three separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL artillery piece, five ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL vehicles, an ISIL bunker, and an ISIL heavy machine gun, suppressed an ISIL staging area, and cratered an ISIL-used road.
* Near Sultan Abdallah, one strike suppressed an ISIL mortar position.
* Near Tal Afar, one strike struck an ISIL-used bridge.

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 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, Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Coalition nations which have conducted strikes in Syria include Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.