PRESS RELEASE | Jan. 1, 2017
January 1: Military airstrikes continue against ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq
CJTFOIR

January 1, 2017
Release # 20170101-01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOUTHWEST ASIA — On Dec. 31, Coalition military forces conducted 28 strikes against ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq. In Syria, Coalition military forces conducted 19 strikes using attack, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft against ISIL targets. Additionally in Iraq, Coalition military forces conducted nine strikes coordinated with and in support of the government of Iraq using attack, bomber, fighter, rotary, and remotely piloted aircraft against ISIL targets.

Syria
* Near Abu Kamal, one strike destroyed an oil tanker truck.
* Near Al Shadaddi, one strike destroyed a VBIED.
* Near Ar Raqqah, 15 strikes engaged nine ISIL tactical units; destroyed four VBIEDs, eight fighting positions, two heavy machine guns, and a supply route; and damaged an ISIL tactical vehicle.
* Near Ayn Isa, two strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a fighting position and an anti-air artillery piece.

Iraq

* Near Bayji, one strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a rocket rail.
* Near Haditha, two strikes damaged four ISIL defensive berms.
* Near Kisik, one strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and an ISIL tactical vehicle.
* Near Mosul, three strikes engaged three ISIL tactical units; destroyed three front-end loaders, a bulldozer, five mortars, two supply caches, a truck, inoperable coalition equipment, two VBIEDs, and a barge; suppressed three ISIL mortar teams; and damaged 19 ISIL supply routes and a defensive berm.
* Near Tal Afar, two strikes destroyed an ISIL highway checkpoint and a VBIED factory.

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.