PRESS RELEASE | Jan. 28, 2016
Jan.28: Military airstrikes continue against ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq
January 28, 2016

Release # 20160128-01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOUTHWEST ASIA — On Jan. 27, coalition military forces continued to attack ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq. In Syria, coalition military forces conducted five strikes using attack, fighter, and remotely piloted aircraft. Separately in Iraq, coalition military forces conducted 15 strikes coordinated with and in support of the Government of Iraq using rocket artillery and attack, fighter, 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 Palmyra, one strike struck an ISIL improvised explosives manufacturing area.
* Near Ar Raqqah, two strikes struck an ISIL headquarters and destroyed two ISIL cranes and two ISIL workover rigs.
* Near Mar’a, two strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and an ISIL building.

Iraq
* Near Al Baghdadi, three strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed three ISIL rocket caches, two ISIL rocket rails, four ISIL mortar tubes, an ISIL heavy machine gun, and an ISIL vehicle, and suppressed an ISIL mortar position.
* Near Habbaniyah, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.
* Near Ramadi, eight strikes struck four separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed six ISIL vehicle borne improvised explosive devices (VBIED), an ISIL vehicle, an ISIL staging area, an ISIL fighting position, and an ISIL mortar position, and denied ISIL access to terrain.
* Near Sinjar, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL heavy machine gun, an ISIL light machine gun, and five ISIL fighting positions.
* Near Sultan Abdallah, one strike destroyed an ISIL 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 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.