PRESS RELEASE | March 8, 2017
March 8: Military airstrikes continue against ISIS terrorists in Syria and Iraq
CJTFOIR

March 8, 2017
Release # 20170308-01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOUTHWEST ASIA — On Mar. 7, Coalition military forces conducted 32 strikes consisting of 100 engagements against ISIS terrorists in Syria and Iraq.

In Syria, Coalition military forces conducted 20 strikes consisting of 25 engagements against ISIS targets.

*Near Abu Kamal, two strikes destroyed two well heads.

*Near Ar Raqqah, four strikes destroyed three fighting positions, two tunnels, a vehicle repair facility, and a tactical vehicle.

*Near Dayr Az Zawr, 13 strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed six well heads, three gas oil separation plants, a vehicle, a fighting position, a VBIED, a weapons storage facility, and a tank.

*Near Manbij, one strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a tactical vehicle.

In Iraq, Coalition military forces conducted 12 strikes consisting of 75 engagements coordinated with and in support of the government of Iraq against ISIS targets.

*Near Al Qaim, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed two vehicles.

*Near Bayji, one strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and an ISIS staging area.

*Near Mosul, six strikes engaged five ISIS tactical units and an ISIS staging area; destroyed nine fighting positions, four mortar systems, three VBIEDs, two VBIED factories, two vehicles, a supply cache, a UAV launch site, a medium machine gun, an ISIS-held building, a watercraft, and a command and control node; damaged 11 supply routes and a fighting position; and suppressed two ISIS tactical units and a sniper team.

*Near Sinjar, one strike destroyed an artillery system and two supply caches.

*Near Tal Afar, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS-held building, a weapons cache, a tactical vehicle, an ISIS headquarters, and an improvised weapons 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.