PRESS RELEASE | March 21, 2017
March 21: Military airstrikes continue Against ISIS terrorists in Syria and Iraq
CJTFOIR

March 21, 2017
Release # 20170321-01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOUTHWEST ASIA — On Mar. 20, Coalition military forces conducted 28 strikes consisting of 81 engagements against ISIS terrorists in Syria and Iraq.

In Syria, Coalition military forces conducted 22 strikes consisting of 28 engagements against ISIS targets.

* Near Abu Kamal, three strikes destroyed three well heads and a pump jack.

* Near Ar Raqqah, 19 strikes engaged eight ISIS tactical units; destroyed four petroleum oil lubricant equipment pieces, three barges, three fighting positions, three ISIS headquarters, two VBIED facilities, two VBIEDs, a VBIED factory, a tunnel, a vehicle, a weapons storage facility, and a command and control node; and damaged two supply routes.

In Iraq, Coalition military forces conducted six strikes consisting of 53 engagements coordinated with and in support of the government of Iraq against ISIS targets.

* Near Al Qaim, one strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle.
* Near Mosul, four strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and three ISIS sniper teams; destroyed 14 fighting positions, five rocket-propelled grenade systems, three VBIEDs, a supply cache, an anti-air artillery system, and a heavy machine gun; damaged six supply routes and two fighting positions; and suppressed four ISIS mortar teams and three ISIS tactical units.
* Near Tal Afar, one strike destroyed 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.