PRESS RELEASE | Jan. 5, 2017
January 5: Military airstrikes continue against ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq
CJTFOIR

January 5, 2017

Release # 20170105-01

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOUTHWEST ASIA – On Jan. 4, Coalition military forces conducted 25 strikes against ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq. In Syria, Coalition military forces conducted 15 strikes using attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft against ISIL targets. Additionally in Iraq, Coalition military forces conducted 10 strikes coordinated with and in support of the government of Iraq using attack, fighter, and remotely piloted aircraft as well as rocket artillery against ISIL targets.

Syria

• Near Ar Raqqah, nine strikes engaged five ISIL tactical units; destroyed six fighting positions, four oil tanker trucks, an oil pump jack, an artillery system, and a command and control node; and damaged two supply routes.

• Near Ayn Isa, one strike destroyed three ISIL tunnels.

• Near Dayr Az Zawr, five strikes destroyed six oil pump jacks and an oil tanker truck.

Iraq

• Near Al Huwayjah, one strike destroyed an ISIL headquarters building.

• Near Haditha, one strike destroyed a bridge.

• Near Mosul, seven strikes engaged four ISIL tactical units; destroyed five ISIL-held buildings, four fighting positions, four mortar systems, two weapons caches, a supply cache, a communications tower, a vehicle, a command and control node, and a rocket and unmanned aerial vehicle factory; damaged 27 supply routes; and suppressed two mortar teams.

• Near Tal Afar, one strike destroyed an ISIL 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.