PRESS RELEASE | March 25, 2017
March 25: Military airstrikes continue against ISIS terrorists in Syria and Iraq
March 25, 2017

Release # 20170325-01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOUTHWEST ASIA — On Mar. 24, Coalition military forces conducted 14 strikes consisting of 55 engagements against ISIS terrorists in Syria and Iraq.

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

* Near Abu Kamal, one strike destroyed an ISIS-held building.
* Near Ar Raqqah, four strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit; destroyed two fighting positions, two vehicles, and a weapons storage facility; and damaged a supply route.
* Near Tabqah, three strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit; destroyed a fighting position; and damaged a supply route.

In Iraq, Coalition military forces conducted six strikes consisting of 46 engagements coordinated with and in support of the government of Iraq against ISIS targets.

* Near Mosul, fives strikes engaged five ISIS tactical units; destroyed six mortar systems, five fighting positions, a vehicle, a supply cache, a command and control node, a sniper position, and a VBIED; damaged seven supply routes and three fighting positions; and suppressed three ISIS tactical units and an ISIS heavy machine gun team.
* Near Tal Afar, one strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit; and destroyed four weapons caches, two tunnels systems, two explosives storage facilities, an explosives cache, and a mortar system.

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.