PRESS RELEASE | Jan. 23, 2017
January 23: Military airstrikes continue against ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq
CJTFOIR

January 23, 2017
Release # 20170123-01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOUTHWEST ASIA — On Jan. 22, Coalition military forces conducted 42 strikes consisting of 71 engagements against ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq. In Syria, Coalition military forces conducted 34 strikes consisting of 49 engagements using attack, bomber, fighter, and remotely piloted aircraft against ISIL targets. Additionally in Iraq, Coalition military forces conducted eight strikes consisting of 22 engagements coordinated with and in support of the government of Iraq using attack, bomber, fighter, and remotely piloted aircraft against ISIL targets.

Syria
* Near Abu Kamal, one strike destroyed an oil well head.
* Near Al Bab, five strikes engaged four ISIL tactical units and destroyed three tactical vehicles, a mortar, and an ISIL-held building.
* Near Ar Raqqah, 14 strikes engaged four ISIL tactical units and destroyed four artillery pieces, a decoy artillery piece, a UAV tower, two tactical vehicles, a command and control node, 20 oil storage barrels, two tunnels, and a decoy armored vehicle.
* Near Dayr Az Zawr, 14 strikes destroyed 21 oil pump jacks, an oil tanker truck, an oil storage tank, two oil storage barrels.

Iraq
* Near Kisik, one strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit, destroyed a logistics node, and damaged a tunnel.
* Near Mosul, four strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit; destroyed two VBIEDs, a fuel truck, a vehicle, a front-end loader, 10 boats, nine oil tanker trucks, three tanker trailers; and damaged a guard tower and a supply route.
* Near Tal Afar, two strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed two ISIL VBIEDs and an explosives factory.
* Near Tuz, one strike destroyed an ISIL bulldozer.

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.