PRESS RELEASE | March 18, 2017
March 18: Military airstrikes continue against ISIS terrorists in Syria and Iraq
CJTFOIR

March 18, 2017
Release # 20170318-01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOUTHWEST ASIA — On Mar. 17, Coalition military forces conducted 15 strikes consisting of 80 engagements against ISIS terrorists in Syria and Iraq.

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

* Near Ar Raqqah, five strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units, destroyed three fighting positions, two ISIS tactical vehicles, and an ISIS weapons factory; and damaged a bridge.

* Near Palmyra, two strikes destroyed two ISIS front-end loaders and a cave entrance.

In Iraq, Coalition military forces conducted eight strikes consisting of 73 engagements coordinated with and in support of the government of Iraq against ISIS targets.

* Near Al Qaim, one strike destroyed an ISIS explosives cache.

* Near Bayji, one strike destroyed an ISIS vehicle.

* Near Kisik, one strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS-held building.

* Near Mosul, four strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units; destroyed 56 ISIS vehicles, 25 fighting positions, five rocket-propelled grenade systems, two medium machine guns, two mortar systems, and an ISIS VBIED; and suppressed 20 ISIS mortar teams and four ISIS tactical units.

* Near Tal Afar, one strike destroyed an ISIS VBIED factory.

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.