PRESS RELEASE | Oct. 20, 2017
October 20: Military airstrikes continue against ISIS terrorists in Syria and Iraq
CJTFOIR

October 20, 2017
Release # 20171020-01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOUTHWEST ASIA – On Oct. 19, Coalition military forces conducted eight strikes consisting of 13 engagements against ISIS terrorists in Syria and Iraq.

In Syria, Coalition military forces conducted two strikes consisting of six engagements against ISIS targets.
• Near Abu Kamal, one strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a headquarters structure and a vehicle.
• Near Ash Shadaddi, one strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit.

In Iraq, Coalition military forces conducted six strikes consisting of seven engagements against ISIS targets.
• Near Al Qaim, three strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a VBIED factory and damaged three ISIS-held buildings.
• Near Bayji, one strike destroyed three ISIS tunnels.
• Near Rawah, two strikes destroyed an ISIS weapons cache and a VBIED factory.

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.