PRESS RELEASE | Nov. 3, 2016
November 3: Military airstrikes continue against ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq
CJTFOIR

November 3, 2016
Release # 20161103-01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOUTHWEST ASIA — On Nov. 2, Coalition military forces conducted 20 strikes against ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq. In Syria, Coalition military forces conducted eight strikes using attack and remotely piloted aircraft and rocket artillery against ISIL targets. Additionally in Iraq, Coalition military forces conducted 12 strikes coordinated with and in support of the Government of Iraq using attack, bomber, fighter, and remotely piloted aircraft and rocket artillery against ISIL targets.

Syria

* Near Abu Kamal, one strike engaged an ISIL supply route.
* Near Ar Raqqah, two strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an oil pump jack and a vehicle.
* Near Dayr Az Zawr, one strike destroyed two ISIL oil well heads and an oil tanker truck.
* Near Idlib, two strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units and destroyed five vehicles and two fighting positions.
* Near Mar’a, two strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle and a heavy machine gun.

Iraq

* Near Bashir, two strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit, and destroyed an ISIL headquarters building and a tunnel entrance, and suppressed two mortar systems.
* Near Haditha, one strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle and a weapons cache.
* Near Mosul, seven strikes engaged two tactical units; destroyed an ISIL headquarters building, five storage containers, two mortar systems, two fighting positions, an IED factory, a supply cache, a sniper position, an observation post, and a culvert; and damaged two tunnels, a bridge, and a supply route.
* Near Rawah, one strike destroyed an ISIL VBIED factory.
* Near Sinjar, one strike suppressed an ISIL mortar system.

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.