PRESS RELEASE | March 3, 2017
March 3: Military airstrikes continue against ISIS terrorists in Syria and Iraq
CJTFOIR
March 3, 2017
Release # 20170303-01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SOUTHWEST ASIA — On Mar. 2, Coalition military forces conducted 16 strikes consisting of 78 engagements against ISIS terrorists in Syria and Iraq.
In Syria, Coalition military forces conducted two strikes consisting of four engagements against ISIS targets.
* Near Ar Raqqah, one strike destroyed a weapons storage facility.
* Near Palmyra, one strike damaged a bridge.
In Iraq, Coalition military forces conducted 14 strikes consisting of 74 engagements coordinated with and in support of the government of Iraq against ISIS targets.
* Near Al Qaim, one strike destroyed an ISIS storage facility.
* Near Haditha, one strike suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.
* Near Mosul, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit; destroyed six fighting positions, four heavy machine guns, three medium machine guns, two tunnels, a rocket-propelled grenade system, a VBIED, and a VBIED facility; damaged seven supply routes; and suppressed 22 mortar teams.
* Near Rawah, 10 strikes engaged an ISIS staging area and destroyed nine ISIS-held buildings.
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.