PRESS RELEASE | March 17, 2017
March 17: Military airstrikes continue against ISIS terrorists in Syria and Iraq
CJTFOIR

March 17, 2017
Release # 20170317-01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOUTHWEST ASIA — On Mar. 16, Coalition military forces conducted 19 strikes consisting of 51 engagements against ISIS terrorists in Syria and Iraq.

In Syria, Coalition military forces conducted 12 strikes consisting of 14 engagements against ISIS targets.

* Near Ar Raqqah, eight strikes engaged six ISIS tactical units and destroyed three fighting positions, a vehicle, an ISIS-held building, and an oil refinement still.

* Near Dayr Az Zawr, three strikes destroyed four well heads, two front-end loaders, and an oil inlet manifold.

* Near Palmyra, one strike destroyed a tank.

In Iraq, Coalition military forces conducted seven strikes consisting of 37 engagements coordinated with and in support of the government of Iraq against ISIS targets.

* Near Al Huwayjah, two strikes engaged an ISIS staging area and destroyed a UAV storage facility and a VBIED storage facility.

* Near Mosul, four strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units; destroyed 11 fighting positions, seven vehicles, a recoilless rifle, a heavy machine gun, a rocket-propelled grenade system, an explosives factory, a supply cache, and an ISIS-held building; damaged 14 supply routes and a fighting position; and suppressed 13 ISIS mortar teams.

* Near Tal Afar, one strike destroyed a VBIED facility and an ISIS-held building.

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.