PRESS RELEASE | Oct. 20, 2016
October 20: Military airstrikes continue against ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq
CJTFOIR

October 20, 2016
Release # 20161020-01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOUTHWEST ASIA – On Oct. 19, Coalition military forces conducted 14 strikes against ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq. In Syria, Coalition military forces conducted six strikes using attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft against ISIL targets. Additionally in Iraq, Coalition military forces conducted eight strikes coordinated with and in support of the Government of Iraq attack, bomber, fighter, remotely piloted aircraft and rocket artillery against ISIL targets.

The following is a summary of the strikes conducted against ISIL since the last press release:

Syria

* Near Abu Kamal, one strike engaged three ISIL supply routes.
* Near Ar Raqqah, two strikes engaged two ISIL supply routes and destroyed two oil well heads.
* Near Ayn Isa, one strike engaged two ISIL staging areas.
* Near Dayr Az Zawr, one strike destroyed two ISIL oil well heads.
* Near Washiyah, one strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle.

Iraq

* Near Al Huwayjah, one strike engaged an ISIL weapons cache.
* Near Kisik, one strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL checkpoint.
* Near Mosul, three strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units and two staging areas; destroyed four vehicles, four ISIL-held buildings, four fighting positions, three containers, two mortar systems, a tunnel entrance, a bunker, an artillery system, a front end loader, a weapons cache, a heavy machine gun, and a tanker trailer; damaged a VBIED; and suppressed three mortar positions and a fighting position.
* Near Sinjar, two strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units and destroyed two heavy machine guns and a VBIED, and suppressed mortar fire.
* Near Sultan Abdallah, one strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed three weapons caches.

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

Combined theater total engagements: 14

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.