PRESS RELEASE | May 17, 2017
May 17: Military airstrikes continue against ISIS terrorists in Syria and Iraq
CJTFOIR

May 17, 2017
Release # 20170517-01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOUTHWEST ASIA — On May 16, Coalition military forces conducted 29 strikes consisting of 87 engagements against ISIS terrorists in Syria and Iraq.

In Syria, Coalition military forces conducted 18 strikes consisting of 24 engagements against ISIS targets.
*Near Abu Kamal, one strike destroyed an ISIS well head.
*Near Al Hawl, one strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a fighting position.
*Near At Tanf, one strike destroyed a storage facility.
*Near Dayr Az Zawr, three strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a four oil processing equipment items, two ISIS oil storage tanks, a vehicle and a fighting position.
*Near Palmyra, one strike destroyed a front-end loader.
*Near Raqqah, six strikes engaged five ISIS tactical units; destroyed five vehicles, two VBIEDs, two mortar systems, and an ISIS storage facility; and damaged an ISIS bridge.
*Near Tabqah, five strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and destroyed three vehicles and two fighting positions.

In Iraq, Coalition military forces conducted 11 strikes consisting of 58 engagements against ISIS targets.
*Near Al Qaim, one strike destroyed a bunker and a tactical vehicle.
*Near Ar Rutbah, one strike destroyed a bunker.
*Near Mosul, six strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units; destroyed 10 fighting positions, three medium machine guns, two rocket-propelled grenade systems, a UAS, an ISIS-held building, an artillery system, a heavy machine gun, a mortar system, a VBIED, a command and control node, a vehicle, and a VBIED facility; damaged 16 ISIS supply routes and a fighting position; and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit and a mortar team.
*Near Sinjar, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle, an ISIS staging area and an IED cache.
*Near Tal Afar, one strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle.

Additionally, one strike was conducted in Syria on May 15th that closed within the last 24 hours.
*Near Raqqah, one strike destroyed an ISIS headquarters.

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.