PRESS RELEASE | March 15, 2017
March 15: Military airstrikes continue against ISIS terrorists in Syria and Iraq
CJTFOIR

March 15, 2017
Release # 20170315-01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOUTHWEST ASIA — On Mar. 14, Coalition military forces conducted 25 strikes consisting of 81 engagements against ISIS terrorists in Syria and Iraq.

In Syria, Coalition military forces conducted 11 strikes consisting of 11 engagements against ISIS targets.

* Near Ar Raqqah, eight strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and destroyed six fighting positions, two mortar systems, an ammunition cache, an ISIS-held building, and a weapons cache.

* Near Dayr Az Zawr, three strikes engaged an ISIS staging area and destroyed six barges and a front-end loader.

In Iraq, Coalition military forces conducted 14 strikes consisting of 70 engagements coordinated with and in support of the government of Iraq against ISIS targets.

* Near Al Asad, one strike destroyed a VBIED and a weapons cache.

* Near Al Huwayjah, one strike destroyed a vehicle.

* Near Bayji, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and an ISIS sniper team; and destroyed five mortar systems.

* Near Haditha, one strike destroyed five IEDs.

* Near Kisik, one strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit: and destroyed a weapons cache.

* Near Mosul, five strikes engaged five ISIS tactical units and an ISIS sniper team; destroyed 11 fighting positions, five mortar systems, three watercraft, two supply caches, two VBIEDs, a medium machine gun, a heavy machine gun, a rocket-propelled grenade system, an anti-air artillery system, and an ISIS headquarters; damaged 18 supply routes; and suppressed 11 ISIS mortar teams and six ISIS tactical units.

* Near Rawah, one strike destroyed a fuel cache.

* Near Tal Afar, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit; and destroyed a VBIED facility and a weapons cache.

These strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to destroy ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The destruction of ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria also further limits the group’s ability to project terror and conduct external operations throughout the region and the rest of the world.

This Coalition strike release contains all strikes conducted by fighter, attack, bomber, rotary-wing, or remotely piloted aircraft, rocket propelled artillery and some ground based tactical artillery when fired on planned targets. 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.

A strike, as defined in the Coalition release, refers to one or more kinetic engagements that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative effect in that location. For example, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIS vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of ISIS-held buildings and weapon systems in a compound, having the cumulative effect of making that facility harder or impossible to use. Strike assessments are based on initial reports and may be refined.

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.