PRESS RELEASE | Jan. 13, 2017
January 13: Military airstrikes continue against ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq
CJTFOIR

January 13, 2017
Release # 20170113-01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOUTHWEST ASIA — On Jan. 12, Coalition military forces conducted 32 strikes against ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq. In Syria, Coalition military forces conducted 17 strikes using attack, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft against ISIL targets. Additionally in Iraq, Coalition military forces conducted 15 strikes coordinated with and in support of the government of Iraq using attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft as well as rocket artillery against ISIL targets.

Syria
. Near Abu Kamal, one strike destroyed an oil pump jack.
. Near Ar Raqqah, 11 strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed 30 oil refinement stills, six fighting positions, three oil tanker trailers, an ISIL headquarters, a weapons cache and an oil well head.
. Near Ayn Isa, one strike destroyed a bunker.
. Near Dayr Ar Zawr, two strikes destroyed 15 oil refinement stills and nine oil tanker trucks.
. Near Manbij, two strikes damaged a vehicle and a mortar system.

Iraq
. Near Haditha, one strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit.
. Near Mosul, nine strikes engaged five ISIL tactical units; destroyed five vehicles, three mortar systems, two UAV launch sites, three fighting positions, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, a VBIED manufacturing and armoring facility, a heavy machine gun, a supply cache, and an anti-air artillery system; damaged 18 supply routes; and two bridges.
. Near Rawah, one strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle, a command and control node, and a weapons storage facility.
. Near Sinjar, one strike destroyed a mortar system.
. Near Tal Afar, three strikes destroyed a vehicle, a VBIED facility and a UAV launch site.

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.