VIDEO: U.S. Military, Coalition Strikes Continue Against ISIL Terrorists in Syria, Iraq

ABOVE VIDEO: Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook briefed reporters at the Pentagon, Nov. 7, 2016, as operations to retake Mosul continue. North of Mosul, Kurdish peshmerga fighters have fought their way into the Iraqi town of Bashiqa, while Iraqi forces are working from the south to clear Hamam Al-Alil.

U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Iraq yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of the latest strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

Attack and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 18 strikes in Syria:

— Near Kamal, a strike damaged an ISIL supply route.

— Near Ayn Isa, 16 strikes engaged 12 ISIL tactical units and destroyed six fighting positions, five vehicles, two vehicle bombs and a communications node.

— Near Mara, a strike destroyed an ISIL vehicle and a heavy machine gun.

Strikes in Iraq

Attack, bomber, fighter, remotely piloted aircraft and rocket artillery conducted 12 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:

— Near Mosul, seven strikes engaged four ISIL tactical units and three staging areas; destroyed 16 vehicles, seven mortar systems, three weapons caches, two ISIL-held buildings, an ISIL headquarters building and a training facility; damaged two ISIL supply routes; degraded three ISIL tunnels; and suppressed two ISIL tactical units.

— Near Rawah, three strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed 11 storage containers, a vehicle and a weapons cache.

— Near Sinjar, a strike engaged an ISIL headquarters building.

— Near Tal Afar, a strike destroyed nine ISIL vehicles.

Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use.

Accordingly, officials said, they do 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. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

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 terrorist group’s ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.

Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Syria include the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.

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