PRESS RELEASE | Nov. 17, 2016
November 17: Military airstrikes continue against ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq
CJTFOIR

November 17, 2016
Release # 20161117-01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOUTHWEST ASIA — On Nov. 16, Coalition military forces conducted 18 strikes against ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq. In Syria, Coalition military forces conducted seven strikes using fighter and remotely piloted aircraft against ISIL targets. Additionally in Iraq, Coalition military forces conducted 11 strikes coordinated with and in support of the Government of Iraq using attack, fighter, remotely piloted aircraft, and rocket artillery against ISIL targets.

Syria

* Near Al Shadaddi, one strike damaged four supply routes.
* Near Ayn Isa, four strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units; destroyed an artillery system, a mortar system, and damaged a supply route.
* Near Dayr Az Zawr, one strike destroyed an oil well head.
* Near Dayr Palymyra, one strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle.

Iraq

* Near Al Huwayjah, two strikes engaged three ISIL tactical units and destroyed nine ISIL compounds and a command and control node.
* Near Haditha, one strike destroyed inoperable coalition equipment.
* Near Mosul, three strikes engaged three ISIL tactical units; destroyed six mortar systems, four watercraft, three storage containers, two fighting positions, two vehicles, a bunker, a trench, and an ISIL-held building; degraded two tunnels; and suppressed two tactical units and a rocket-propelled grenade system.
* Near Rawah, three strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit and an ISIL-held building; and destroyed two bunkers, two buildings, an IED storage facility, and an IED cache; and damaged another IED cache.
* Near Sinjar, one strike engaged an ISIL headquarters building.
* Near Sultan Abdallah, one strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a fighting position.

Strike assessments are based on initial reports. All aircraft returned to base safely.

A strike, as defined in the CJTF releases, means one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative effect for that location. So having a single aircraft deliver a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of buildings and vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making that facility (or facilities) harder or impossible to use. Accordingly, 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.

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.

The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, and the wider international community.

The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the group’s ability to project terror and conduct operations. Coalition nations which have conducted strikes in Iraq include Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Coalition nations which have conducted strikes in Syria include Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.