Operation Inherent Resolve:US Combat Operations in Syria Resume

Following a sequestration of troops for force protection during the Iran crisis,US service members are once again conducting combat operations against Islamic State remnants in Syria alongside their longtime Syrian Kurd allies in the Syrian Democratic Forces.According to US CENTCOM commander GEN Kenneth "Frank" McKenzie,Jr.,US Marine Corps,who spoke to journalists from the Associated Press and The Washington Post while touring five US bases in the Eastern Security Zone,the two close members of Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve are now conducting up to 3-4 operations a week.The US outposts GEN McKenzie visited house a total of around 750 US troops and are scattered across a swath of ESZ territory running from Deir-el-Zour in the Northeast to the Euphrates River Valley and the Iraqi border east of al-Hassakeh.The names and exact locations of many of the bases are classified.
GEN McKenzie told the journalists:
I frankly don't know how long we're going to be here.And I have no instructions other than to continue to work with our partners here.Now we're firmly focused on the lasting defeat of ISIS (another name for Islamic State).*
Accompanying GEN McKenzie was MG Eric Hill,US Air Force,commander of Special Operations Forces in Iraq and Syria.He said his troops are training and conducting operations with the Syrian Democratic Forces to shut down IS,who are hiding in valleys,caves and deserts,where they attempt to regroup following their defeat at the hands of CJTF-OIR in their former capital of Raqqa,Syria.*
Another 5,000 US troops are across the border in Iraq on a train,advise and assist mission with the Iraqi Security Forces,who are engaged in their own battle with IS remnants in Iraq.Many of the IS militants are located in Anbar Province in Western Iraq.
NATO also has a training mission underway in Iraq.*

War on ISIL:Air Campaign Update - plus a Canadian Forces sniper's world record kill

The air war against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant continued on 26 June 2017,according to Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve.The OIR coalition conducted 31 strikes consisting of 45 engagements,CJTFOIR said in a  press release.
In Syria,coalition forces conducted 27 strikes consisting of 39 engagements against ISIL targets,among them:
near Dawr Az Zawr,7 strikes engaged 2 ISIL tactical units and destroyed 3 vehicles;a tactical vehicle;2 bunkers;2 pumpjacks;a front-end loader;an IED factory;and an ISIL headquarters,while damaging 2 fighting positions;
near Raqqa,18 strikes engaged 15 ISIL tactical units and destroyed 13 fighting positions;2 vehicles;a VBIED;an IED factory and an ISIL headquarters,damaging 2 fighting positions.*
In Iraq,coalition forces conducted 4 strikes consisting of 6 engagements against ISIL targets,among them:
near Beiji,3 strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a tactical vehicle storage facility;a tactical vehicle;and an ISIL fuel tanker;
near Tikrit,a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit;
on 25 June,near Mosul,3 strikes began that engaged 2 ISIL tactical units and destroyed 14 fighting positions;5 weapons systems;3 medium machine guns;3 rocket-propelled grenade systems;2 mortar systems;a command-and-control node;and suppressed 5 mortar teams.These strikes closed within the past 24 hours,so were added to the 26 June report.*
The OIR strikes are conducted by fighter,attack,bomber,rotary-wing or remotely piloted aircraft;rocket-propelled artillery;and some ground-based artillery when fired on planned targets.No information on which countries participated in the strikes was provided.*
It is ironic that,with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau removing Canadian Forces from the OIR air campaign in an attempt to distance them from direct combat against ISIL,it was a Canadian Special Operations Forces member of Joint Task Force 2 who has just set the world record for a sniper kill by neutralising an ISIL militant from a distance of 3.54 kilometers,or about 2.2 miles.Congratulations to our loyal northern neighbours,who always find a way to assist,even joining the US Army so they could fight in the Vietnam War alongside Americans.
The sniper used a MacMillan TAC-50 .50 caliber weapon,which is the world's longest shoulder-fired firearm,and a 750-grain Hornady round.Experts point out that his spotter's skill in evaluating the atmospheric conditions all the way to the target was also critical to the success of the mission.
Mr.Trudeau insisted the sniper kill was both praiseworthy and consistent with Canada's advise and assist role in Iraq.Canadian Forces are expected to defend themselves and coalition partners during the course of their mission,he told reporters.

Operation Inherent Resolve:US Marine Corps Artillery Moves into Syria-hefty reinforcements may be staged in Kuwait

About 400 US Marines of the 111th Marine Expeditionary Unit and US Army Rangers of the 75th Ranger Regiment have arrived in Syria,augmenting the 500 US troops already there on a train,advise and assist mission for the Syrian Democratic Forces,a conglomeration of militias led by the YPG Kurds.The Marines are there in a combat role with their light but powerful M777 155 mm Howitzers.This artillery has been assisting the SDF soften up Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant positions in and around Raqqa,the ISIL capital,since at least 9 March 2017.The Rangers have been patrolling around the newly liberated town of Manbij in Northern Syria in their armoured personnel carriers to stabilise the security situation and reassure skittish allies such as Turkey.
Besides the Marines and Rangers,US Army HiMARS rocket artillery is reportedly also in or headed for Syria to participate in the liberation of Raqqa,thus mirroring US on the ground activity in neighbouring Iraq.The extra firepower is part of the Trump administration's plan to accelerate the lasting military defeat of ISIL.Although the deployments are considered temporary,no end date has been set.
Additionally,the Pentagon is contemplating sending at least 1,000 more troops to Kuwait as potential reinforcements for the approximately 1,000 US forces already in Syria.Indeed,the number in Kuwait could go as high as 12,000 US troops being held in reserve for support of the momentous Battle of Raqqa,which could be intitiated within a few weeks' time.*
The M777 is a towed cannon with a range of 32 kilometers/20 miles.It has been used in the Afghan War as well.The HiMARS is already being used against ISIL in Iraq.According to US Air Force Colonel John Dorrian,spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force OIR:
We are going to prepare to liberate the city of Raqqa.This is an important task that has to be accomplished,because liberating that city is going to damage the enemy's prospects.It has a tremendous amount of symbolic importance.It's also a major command and control node for their external operations.
We have what I would describe as a pretty relentless air campaign to destroy enemy capabilities and to kill enemy fighters in that area already.That is something that we are going to continue and intensify with this new capability,COL Dorrian explained.*
On 20 March 2017,coalition military forces conducted 22 strikes consisting of 28 engagements against ISIL in Syria,including:
Near Abu Kamal,three strikes destroyed three wellheads and a pump jack;
Near Raqqa,19 strikes engaged eight ISIL tactical units;destroyed four pieces of oil lubricant equipment;three barges;three fighting positions;three headquarters;two VBIED facilities;two VBIEDs;a VBIED factory;a tunnel;a vehicle;a weapons storage facility;a command and control node;and damaged two supply nodes.*
Strikes are conducted by fighter,attack,bomber,rotary-wing or remotely piloted aircraft;rocket-propelled artillery;some ground-based tactical artillery when fired on planned targets.Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to manoeuvre roles is not classified as a strike,the CJTFOIR says.*
Those who have participated in Syria strikes include Australia;Bahrain;Canada;Denmark;France;Jordan;the Netherlands;Saudi Arabia;Turkey;the UAE;and the UK.

Special Report:Russia's Massive Airstrike on ISIL

More than two dozen Russian Backfire,Bear and Blackjack bombers launched from a base in Southern Russia Tuesday night and released air-launched cruise missiles that struck the ISIL capital of Raqqa,Syria.According to Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman Colonel Steve Warren,US Army,at the same time,a multi-ship formation of Russian warships in the Caspian Sea fired sea-launched cruise missiles at the same location.The missiles flew through Iraqi airspace and it was also the first time Russia had struck targets in Raqqa,COL Warren added.Russia notified the US beforehand,but didn't share its target set.The US neither cooperated nor coordinated with Russia on this strike;nor are there currently any plans to do so in the future,according to COL Warren.There is daily communication with Russia,but only to test the communications link.Right now,I see no indication they hit anything in our target set,the OIR spokesman told reporters via teleconference.*
A Russian spokesman said that the strike hit 14 important ISIL targets,including command posts that coordinate ISIL activities in Idlib and Aleppo Provinces,as well as munitions and supply depots in Northwest Syria.The Russian General Staff has developed a new plan for the air campaign involving the deployment of 25 strategic bombers,including eight Su-24 Fullback attack jets;four Su-27 Flanker fighter jets;plus the variable-sweep wing Tu-160 Blackjack and Tu-22m Backfire jet bombers and the prop Bear bombers.The Bear and Blackjack bombers carry at least 20 tonnes of weaponry.All of the aforementioned bombers have a range of thousands of miles.*
At the G20 summit in Antalya,Turkey last weekend,US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron reportedly encouraged Russian President Vladimir Putin to strike more ISIL targets with Russian airpower.Previously,Russia had primarily been going after opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The War Room:The US Air Force and the War On ISIL-plus the air strike on Libya

The hot,dusty expanse of Al Udeid Air Base in the deserts of Qatar is the home of US Central Command's Combined Forces Air Component,Lieutenant General John Hesterman III,commander.Since August 8,coalition airpower has significantly degraded ISIL's ability to organise,project and sustain combat power while taking exceptional care to limit collateral damage and civilian casualties,LTGEN Hesterman said.Coalition airpower has helped ground forces regain territory,removed significant numbers of fighters from the battlefield,and eliminated the majority of ISIL oil refining capability.*
As the enemy's tactics change,so have our air power tactics,and we are still fighting and eliminating ISIL fighters,added Major John Easton,Air Forces CENTCOM tactics officer.ISIL is very much afraid of our ability to strike them.*
I expect my team to lean forward,and they are,LTGEN Hesterman continued.Not only has airpower been effective,but it has enabled virtually every victory on the battlefield and given the ground forces time to regroup and get their forces in order.It's also given all our coalition nations the space and time to execute the international lines of effort for countering flow of foreign fighters;countering ISIL financing;providing humanitarian assistance;containing ISIL's messaging and stabilising liberated areas,all of which will be necessary to finish ISIL.
Responding to critics of the air campaign,Lieutenant Colonel Dave Haworth,Combined Air Operations Center Combat Operations Director,said that while pilots struck large numbers of targets in Desert Storm and the opening days of Operation Iraqi Freedom,those fights had extremely different and available target sets.In previous campaigns,we were fighting against a conventional military that massed in the open,away from the civilian population.Those target sets don't exist in this fight now.We're fighting an enemy that hides behind civilians.You simply can't compare then to now.*
A very recent example of what air power has achieved is the success of Kurdish YPG and Free Syrian Army ground forces in recapturing most of the strategic town of Tal Abyad,Syria from ISIL near the Turkish border.Only pockets of ISIL resistance remain in the town,which is a critical link in ISIL's supply line to their capital Raqqa,80 kilometers to the north.The Kurds and FSA entered the town on Monday 15 June after a day of swift advances enabled by coalition air strikes.More than 16,000 residents of Tal Abyad and nearby villages were displaced by the heavy fighting-terrorised by ISIL and bombarded from all sides,a refugee told the Al Jazeera news channel.The main push to the town had begun on 11 June.*
In another effective use of air power,in this case against al Qaida militant leader Mokhtar Belmokhtar,Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James confirmed that the Air Force had carried out an air strike in Libya with precision weapons.It was the first US air strike in Libya since 2011.Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren,US Army,added that two Boeing F-15 Strike Eagles carried out the raid with 500 lb. bombs in Eastern Libya,escorted by observation drones.
Belmokhtar was leader of an al Qaida affiliate which he co-founded called Al-Murabitoun,having formerly been chief of Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb,AQIM.In that capacity,he was mastermind of the 2013 seizure of a gas plant in Algeria that resulted in the deaths of 38 hostages,including three Americans and several British.Belmokhtar also claimed responsibility for a double suicide bombing in Niger that killed 20 people.
The internationally recognised government of Libya stated on Tuesday that Belmokhtar and other militants were killed in the US raid,which took place on a farm south of Ajdabiya,about 160 kilometers south of Benghazi,as Belmokhtar met leaders from other Islamist extremist groups,including Ansar al-Sharia.*
In 2014,US special operations forces mounted an operation in Libya in which they captured Ahmed Abu Khattala.an organizer of the 2012 attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi that killed US Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.*
Boeing (BA)

Special Report:The Jordan Response-and how the US helped

So far,there have been two retaliatory airstrikes by the US-led coalition on ISIL targets for the burning of Jordanian Royal Air Force Lieutenant Moaz al-Kasasbeh.Two dozen Jordanian F-16 Fighting Falcons have struck ISIL targets including ammunition dumps,weapons,training camps and hideouts.The raids have been focused on the ISIL headquarters in Raqqa,Syria.
Accompanying the Jordanians are US F-18 fighter aircraft,as well as the F-22 Raptor,the most advanced US fighter jet currently in service.They have assisted Jordan with surveillance,reconnaissance,targeting and jamming.US air tankers refueled the Jordanian jets as well.
It is not known whether there will be a ground component.Such a raid would require extensive intelligence gathering,analysis and practice.As always,the Operation Inherent Resolve coalition must take into account collateral damage before executing any attack,and the ISIL militants have significantly dispersed and melted into their surroundings.
In Raqqa,a crowd of ISIL supporters had cheered as they viewed a video of LT al-Kasasbeh's death at the hands of the Islamist jihadists.