PRESS RELEASE | May 16, 2017
May 16: Military airstrikes continue against ISIS terrorists in Syria and Iraq
CJTFOIR

May 16, 2017
Release # 20170516-01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOUTHWEST ASIA — On May 15, Coalition military forces conducted 28 strikes consisting of 91 engagements against ISIS terrorists in Syria and Iraq.

In Syria, Coalition military forces conducted 17 strikes consisting of 21 engagements against ISIS targets.
* Near Abu Kamal, two strikes destroyed three ISIS well heads.
* Near Dayr Az Zawr, four strikes destroyed four ISIS well heads and three ISIS pump jacks.
* Near Raqqah, eight strikes engaged seven ISIS tactical units; destroyed four vehicles, two fighting positions, two VBIEDs, a front-end loader and a supply cache; and damaged an ISIS supply route.
* Near Tabqah, three strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units and destroyed two fighting positions and a tactical vehicle.

In Iraq, Coalition military forces conducted 11 strikes consisting of 70 engagements against ISIS targets.
* Near Al Hawayjah, one strike destroyed a supply cache and a tunnel.
* Near Al Qaim, one strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS staging area and an ISIS storage area.
* Near Bayji, one strike destroyed a tactical vehicle.
* Near Mosul, five strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units; destroyed nine fighting positions, two mortar systems, to medium machine guns, two VBIEDs, two ISIS-held buildings, two VBIED facilities, and a supply cache; damaged 13 ISIS supply routes and nine fighting positions; and suppressed three ISIS tactical units and two mortar teams.
* Near Sinjar, three strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a tactical vehicle.

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 ground-based tactical artillery.

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.