SOUTHWEST ASIA —-(Ammoland.com)- On Nov. 16, coalition partner forces near At Tanf Garrison, Syria, killed nine Islamic State of Iraq and Syria fighters and destroyed several ISIS vehicles, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.
The Maghaweir al Thowra, a fighting force native to southern Syria, engaged and defeated an attempted ISIS attack in the de-confliction zone near At Tanf, officials said.
MaT has been fighting ISIS and maintaining security of a 55-kilometer radius de-confliction zone at the tri-border area of Iraq, Syria and Jordan since 2015, according to officials.
Firefight
ISIS terrorists in vehicles with blacked-out headlights penetrated Syrian regime lines into the de-confliction zone, officials said. After coalition and partner forces ordered the vehicles to halt, the ISIS terrorists dismounted and began firing. Coalition and MaT partners returned fire, killing nine ISIS members and destroying several vehicles.
Throughout the event, coalition officials and their Russian counterparts used the de-confliction telephone line to ensure forces on the ground did not belong to Russia or the Syrian regime, officials said.
“This exchange of fires in southern Syria is evidence the terrorist organization still poses a threat to the people of southern Syria,” said Army Col. Owen Ray, the Special Operations Joint Task Force’s director of operations.
The coalition is committed to remain in the region until ISIS is defeated, Ray added.
The MaT’s actions demonstrate Syrians taking control of their territory following a brutal ISIS occupation, officials said.
The coalition — working by, with and through partner forces — remains committed to the enduring defeat of ISIS, and preventing its re-emergence as a terrorist force, officials said.
U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, conducting 16 strikes consisting of 29 engagements Nov. 17-19, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.
Officials reported details of the strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.
There were no reported strikes conducted on Nov. 19 in Iraq or Syria.
Strikes in Syria
On Nov. 18 in Syria, coalition military forces conducted three strikes consisting of three engagements against ISIS targets:
- Near Abu Kamal, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed three ISIS vehicles.
- Near Dayr Az Zawr, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit.
On Nov. 17 in Syria, coalition military forces conducted four strikes consisting of five engagements against ISIS targets:
- Near Abu Kamal, three strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device, a tactical and an ISIS construction vehicle.
- Near Dayr Az Zawr, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit.
Strikes in Iraq
On Nov. 18 in Iraq, coalition military forces conducted five strikes consisting of 17 engagements against ISIS targets:
- Near , two strikes destroyed two ISIS tunnels.
- Near Rawah, two strikes facilitated effective harassing fire on ISIS targets.
- Near Qayyarah, one strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed 14 ISIS-held buildings and an ISIS vehicle.
On Nov. 17 in Iraq, coalition military forces conducted four strikes consisting of four engagements against ISIS targets:
- Near , a strike destroyed an ISIS-held building and a fighting position.
- Near Rawah, a strike destroyed an IED factory.
- Near Qayyarah, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed an ISIS weapons cache.
Previous Strikes
Officials also provided details today on 17 earlier strikes and 17 engagements against ISIS in Syria and Iraq for which the information was not previously available:
- On July 30, near Raqqa, Syria, three strikes damaged three ISIS fighting positions.
- On July 31, near Raqqa, Syria, three strikes damaged three ISIS fighting positions.
- On Nov. 16, near Al Qaim, Iraq, three strikes facilitated effective harassing fire on ISIS targets.
- On Nov. 16, near Rawah, Iraq, seven strikes destroyed five ISIS supply routes and facilitated effective harassing fire on ISIS targets.
- On July 17, near Qara Tapa, Iraq, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed two weapons caches and an ISIS tunnel.
Part of Operation Inherent Resolve
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, task force officials said.
The list above contains all strikes conducted by fighter, attack, bomber, rotary-wing or remotely piloted aircraft; rocket-propelled artillery; and some ground-based tactical artillery when fired on planned targets, officials noted.
Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike, they added. A strike, as defined by the coalition, refers to one or more kinetic engagements that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single or cumulative effect.
For example, task force officials explained, 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, officials said.
The task force does not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each or the number of individual munition impact points against a target.