Inherent Resolve
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Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) is the U.S. military's operational name for the International military intervention against IS, including both a campaign in Iraq and a campaign in Syria, with a closely-related campaign in Libya. Through 18 September 2018, the
U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
's
III Armored Corps III Corps or III Armored Corps is a corps of the United States Army headquartered at Fort Hood, Texas. It is a major formation of the United States Army Forces Command. Activated in World War I in France, III Corps oversaw US Army divisions a ...
was responsible for
Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF–OIR) is a multinational military formation established by the U.S.-led international coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) with the stated aim to "d ...
(CJTF—OIR) and were replaced by the
XVIII Airborne Corps The XVIII Airborne Corps is a corps of the United States Army that has been in existence since 1942 and saw extensive service during World War II. The corps is designed for rapid deployment anywhere in the world and is referred to as "America ...
. The campaign is primarily waged by American and British air forces in support of local allies, most prominently the
Iraqi security forces The Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) is a term used by the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to describe law enforcement and military forces of the federal government of the Republic of Iraq. During the Iraq War, these entities received trainin ...
and
Syrian Democratic Forces , war = the Syrian Civil War , image = Flag of Syrian Democratic Forces.svgborder , caption = Flag , active = 10 October 2015 – present , ideology = DemocracyDecentralizationSecularism ...
(SDF). Combat ground troops, mostly special forces, infantry, and artillery have also been deployed, especially in Iraq. Of the airstrikes, 70% have been conducted by the military of the United States, 20% by the United Kingdom and the remaining 10% being carried out by France, Turkey, Canada, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Australia and Jordan. According to
the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...
, by March 2019, the day of the territorial defeat in Syria of the
Islamic State An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...
(IS), CJTF-OIR and its partner forces had liberated nearly 110,000 square kilometers (42,471 square miles) of land and 7.7 million people from IS, the vast majority of the self-proclaimed caliphate's territory and subjects. By October 2017, around the time of IS's territorial defeat in Iraq, CJTF-OIR claimed that around 80,000 IS militants had been killed by it and its allies (excluding those targeted by Russian and
Syrian Air Force ) , mascot = , anniversaries = 16 October , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = * 1948 Arab-Israeli War * Six-Day War * Yom Kippur War ...
strikes). By the end of August 2019, it had conducted 34,573 strikes. Tens of thousands more were killed by partner forces on the ground (the SDF alone claimed to have killed 25,336 IS fighters by the end of 2017).


History


2014

Unlike their coalition partners, and unlike previous combat operations, no name was initially given to the conflict against IS by the U.S. government. The decision to keep the conflict nameless drew considerable media criticism. The U.S. decided in October 2014 to name its military efforts against IS as "Operation Inherent Resolve"; the
U.S. Central Command The United States Central Command (USCENTCOM or CENTCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the U.S. Department of Defense. It was established in 1983, taking over the previous responsibilities of the Rapid Deployment Joint Tas ...
(CENTCOM) news release announcing the name noted that: The
US Defense Department The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secur ...
announced at the end of October 2014 that troops operating in support of Operation Inherent Resolve after 15 June were eligible for the
Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal The Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal (GWOT-EM) is a United States Armed Forces award created by George W. Bush on 12 March 2003, through Executive Order 13289. The medal recognizes those military service members who have deployed over ...
. By 4 December 2014, three U.S. service members had died from accidents or non-combat injuries.


2015

On 22 October 2015, a U.S. Master Sergeant,
Joshua Wheeler Joshua Lloyd Wheeler (November 22, 1975 – October 22, 2015) was a United States Army soldier who was killed in Iraq during Operation Inherent Resolve. He was a master sergeant assigned to the elite Delta Force, and was the first American servi ...
, was killed in action when he, with about 30 other U.S. special operations soldiers and a
Peshmerga The Peshmerga ( ku, پێشمەرگه, Pêşmerge, lit=those who face death) is the Kurdish military forces of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq. According to the Constitution of Iraq, the Peshmerga, along with their security subsidiaries, ...
unit, conducted a
prison break ''Prison Break'' is an American serial (radio and television), serial drama television show, television series created by Paul Scheuring for Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox. The series revolves around two brothers, Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purce ...
near
Hawija Hawija () is the central town of Al-Hawija District in the Kirkuk Province of Iraq, west of Kirkuk, and north of Baghdad. The town has a population of about 100,000 inhabitants. Hawija District has approximately 150,000 inhabitants, mostly pop ...
in the
disputed territories of Northern Iraq The disputed territories of Northern Iraq ( ar, المناطق المتنازع عليها في العراق, ku, ناوچە جێناکۆکەکانی عێراق) are regions defined by article 140 of the Constitution of Iraq as being Arabised ...
, in which about 70 hostages were rescued, five IS members were captured and "a number" were killed or wounded. Sergeant First Class
Thomas Payne Thomas Payne (c. 1718 – 1799) was an important bookseller and publisher in 18th-century London. Life Payne was born in Brackley, Northamptonshire. From 1750 he ran a shop at Mews Gate in Castle Street near Leicester Fields (the site is now ...
was awarded the
Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...
for his actions during the operation. The
Kurdistan Regional Government The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) ( ku, حکوومەتی هەرێمی کوردستان, ''Hikûmetî Herêmî Kurdistan'') is the official executive body of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq. The cabinet is selected by the m ...
said after the raid that none of the 15 prisoners it was intended to rescue were found. From May,
North American Rockwell OV-10 Bronco The North American Rockwell OV-10 Bronco is an American twin-turboprop light attack and observation aircraft. It was developed in the 1960s as a special aircraft for counter-insurgency (COIN) combat, and one of its primary missions was as a forw ...
s joined the operation, flying more than 120 combat sorties over 82 days. It is speculated they provided close air support for special forces missions. The experiment ended satisfactorily, but a
US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
spokesman stated it remains unlikely they will invest in reactivating the OV-10 on a regular basis because of the overhead cost of operating an additional aircraft type.


2016

By 9 March 2016, nearly 11,000 airstrikes had been launched on IS (and occasionally
Al-Nusra Al-Nusra Front or Jabhat al-Nusra ( ar, جبهة النصرة لأهل الشام, Jabhat an-Nuṣrah li-Ahl ish-Sham lit. ''Front of the Supporters of the People of Syria/the Levant''), known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham ( ar, جبهة فتح ال ...
), killing over 27,000 fighters and striking over 22,000 targets, including 139 tanks, 371 Humvees, and 1,216 pieces of oil infrastructure. Approximately 80% of these airstrikes have been conducted by American forces, with the remaining 20% being launched by other members of the coalition, such as the United Kingdom and Australia. 7,268 strikes hit targets in Iraq, while 3,602 hit targets in Syria. On 12 June 2016, it was reported that 120 IS leaders, commanders, propagandists, recruiters and other high-value individuals were killed so far this year. Until March 2016, U.S. military members were ineligible for Campaign Medals and other service decorations due to the continuing ambiguous nature of the continuing U.S. involvement in Iraq. However, on 30 March 2016, U.S. Secretary of Defense
Ash Carter Ashton Baldwin Carter (September 24, 1954 – October 24, 2022) was an American government official and academic who served as the 25th United States Secretary of Defense from February 2015 to January 2017. He later served as director of the Be ...
announced the creation of a new medal, named "
Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal The Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal is a United States Department of Defense service award and campaign medal. The medal was established by Executive Order on 30 March 2016 by U.S. President Barack Obama. The medal may be awarded to members of ...
". On 3 June 2016, aircraft flying from the in the
Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...
began airstrikes on IS. On 16 June 2016, AV-8B II+ Harriers of the 13th MEU flying from the in the
Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...
also began airstrikes on IS, marking the first time the U.S. Navy used ship-based aircraft from both the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf at the same time during Operation Inherent Resolve. By 27 July 2016, U.S. and coalition partners had conducted more than 14,000 airstrikes in Iraq and Syria: Nearly 11,000 of those strikes were from U.S. aircraft and the majority of the strikes (more than 9,000) were in Iraq. Of the 26,374 targets hit, nearly 8,000 were against IS fighting positions, while approximately 6,500 hit buildings; IS staging areas and oil infrastructure were each hit around 1,600 times. On 15 December 2016, the U.K. Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said that "more than 25,000 Daesh fighters have now been killed," a number that was half of the United States' estimate. When asked about this discrepancy, the UK's Ministry of Defense said that it stood by his estimate. Since the first U.S. airstrikes on IS targets in Iraq on 8 August 2014, over two years, the U.S. military has spent over $8.4 billion fighting IS.
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
reported in 2017 that according to the American think tank
Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...
, in 2016 alone, the U.S. dropped 12,192 bombs in Syria and 12,095 in Iraq.


Operation Odyssey Lightning

From August to December 2016, the U.S. conducted another similar operation in
Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
, code-named ''
Operation Odyssey Lightning The Battle of Sirte started in the spring of 2016, in the Sirte District in Libya, between the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the loyalist forces of the Government of National Accord (GNA) backed by the United States. ISIL forc ...
'', during the battle to capture Sirte, which was the local capital of IS's Libyan branch. In September 2017, the US Africa Command announced that 495 precision airstrikes were carried out and 800 to 900 IS fighters were killed during the operation in Sirte between 1 August and 19 December 2016. On 18 January 2017, US B-2 bombers bombed 2 IS camps to the south of Sirte, killing 90 IS militants.


2017

According to the
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights , image = Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Logo.jpg , image_size = 200px , caption = The logo of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights , type = NGO , founded_date = , founder ...
, Coalition airstrikes have killed 7,043 people across Syria, of which: 5,768 dead were IS fighters, 304 Al-Nusra Front militants and other rebels, 90 government soldiers and 881 civilians. The air strikes occurred in the period between 22 September 2014 and 23 January 2017. In March 2017, various media outlets reported that conventional forces from the 11th MEU, as well as special operations forces in the form of the
75th Ranger Regiment The 75th Ranger Regiment, also known as Army Rangers, is the U.S. Army's premier light infantry unit and special operations force within the United States Army Special Operations Command. The regiment is headquartered at Fort Benning, Georgi ...
deployed to Syria to support U.S.-backed forces in liberating Raqqa from IS occupation. The deployment marked an escalation in the U.S. intervention in Syria. By February 28, the Coalition had conducted 3,271 sorties in 2017, 2,129 of which resulted in at least one weapon released. In total, the coalition released 7,040 weapons in Iraq and Syria in this same time period in an effort to destroy IS. As of August 9, 2017, coalition aircraft flew a total of 167,912 sorties, and conducted 13,331 strikes in Iraq and 11,235 strikes in Syria, for a total of 24,566 strikes.


2018

In February 2018, the 2nd Brigade Combat Team,
101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operati ...
was awarded a campaign streamer following its deployment to Iraq. In May 2016, the brigade deployed to advise and assist, train and equip Iraqi security forces to fight the Islamic State of Iraq. The 2nd Brigade also conducted precision surface-to-surface fires and supported a multitude of intelligence and logistical operations for coalition and Iraqi forces. They also provided base security throughout more than 12 areas of operations. The Brigade also aided in the clearance of IS from Fallujah, the near elimination of suicide attacks in Baghdad, and the introduction of improved tactics that liberated more than 100 towns and villages. The 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division also played a significant role in the liberation of Mosul.


2019

In early 2019, the US-led coalition focused on the final assault on ISIS in the Euphrates pocket, including the
Battle of Baghuz Fawqani The Battle of Baghuz Fawqani was an offensive by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), assisted by Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) airstrikes, artillery, and special forces personnel, that began on 9 February ...
in the first quarter of the year. Civilian human shields held by ISIS were among the victims, including in one reported massacre on 19 March in which up to 300 civilians, including 45 children, were alleged to have been killed by Coalition forces. From August 8, 2014, to August 29, 2019, coalition aircraft conducted a total of 34,573 strikes. On 27 October 2019,
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ( ar, أبو بكر البغدادي, ʾAbū Bakr al-Baḡdādī; born Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim Ali Muhammad al-Badri al-Samarrai ( ar, إبراهيم عواد إبراهيم علي محمد البدري السامرائي, ʾIb ...
was killed during the
Barisha raid On 26–27 October 2019, the United States conducted a military operation code named Operation Kayla Mueller that resulted in the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the then-leader and self-proclaimed caliph of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist orga ...
in
Idlib Governorate Idlib Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة ادلب / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Idlib'') is one of the 14 governorates of Syria. It is situated in northwestern Syria, bordering Turkey's Hatay province to the north, Aleppo Governorate to the east, Hama ...
. On 31 December 2019, the CJTF-OIR reported its forces were "closely monitoring the current situation of the protests at the US Embassy in Baghdad", adding that they were "taking the appropriate force protection measures to ensure
S Embassy personnel S, or s, is the nineteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ess'' (pronounced ), plural ''esses''. History ...
safety".


2020

CJTF-OIR paused all training and anti-ISIS operations on January 5, 2020, to focus on protecting Iraqi bases hosting Coalition troops in the wake of several rocket attacks. This action was also linked to the anticipated response against Coalition forces in the wake of the killing of Iranian General
Qasem Soleimani Qasem Soleimani ( fa, قاسم سلیمانی, ; 11 March 19573January 2020) was an Iranian military officer who served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). From 1998 until his assassination in 2020, he was the commander of the Quds F ...
. In March 2020, the U.S. military started to withdraw from various bases in Iraq.


2021

On 31 March 2021,
Carrier Air Wing Three Carrier Air Wing Three (CVW-3), known as the "Battle Axe", is a United States Navy aircraft carrier air wing based at Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia. The wing was created on 1 July 1938 and has seen service in World War II, the Korean War, the ...
launched naval flight operations in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. The USS ''Dwight D. Eisenhower'' and its carrier strike group were expected to lead Task Force 50, which oversees Operation Inherent Resolve's naval strike operations.


2022


Assets

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
,
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
&
United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
units that are participating in this operations can be found in the aerial and ground order of battle. U.S. and coalition forces are training Iraqi forces at four sites: in al-Asad in Anbar province, Erbil in the north, and Taji and Besmayah in the Baghdad area. Combined Joint Forces Land Component Command-Iraq * 1st Infantry Division 1st Cavalry division * 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division (January – September 2015). ** 2nd Battalion, 505th Infantry Regiment *
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division The 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (United States), 10th Mountain Division is an Brigade Combat Team (United States)#Infantry brigade combat team, infantry brigade combat team of the United States Army based at Fort Polk, Louisia ...
*
1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division The 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division is an active Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the United States Army based at Fort Drum in New York. The brigade headquarters carries the lineage of the 10th Mountain Division's original head ...
(September 2015 – June 2016). *
2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division (military), division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault military operation, operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute mul ...
(June 2016 – January 2017). **
1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment The 502nd Infantry Regiment (502nd IR), previously titled the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment (502nd PIR), is an infantry regiment of the United States Army. The regiment was established shortly after U.S. entry into World War II, and was ass ...
* 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division (January 2017 – October 2017) ** 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment * 2nd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment (January 2017 – October 2017) *
28th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade The 28th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade is a heavy aviation unit of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. The Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB) is one of four brigades of the 28th Infantry Division. It provides aviation assets for both federal ...
, 28th Infantry Division *
35th Combat Aviation Brigade The Combat Aviation Brigade, 35th Infantry Division Shoulder sleeve insignia The division's shoulder patch, a white Santa Fe cross on a blue disc with a green border, was originally approved for the 35th Division on 29 October 1918. History ...
, 35th Infantry Division (Summer 2018- Summer 2019) 3rd Cavalry Regiment (Spring 2018 – Spring 2019)
United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
*
Marine Air-Ground Task Force Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF, pronounced MAG-TAF) is a term used by the United States Marine Corps to describe the principal organization for all missions across the range of military operations. MAGTFs are a balanced air-ground, combined ar ...
(MAGTF) *
Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force – Crisis Response – Central Command Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force – Crisis Response – Central Command (SP-MAGTF-CR-CC) is a Marine Air-Ground Task Force that is based at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia. It is a self-mobile, self-sustaining force of Mar ...


Military bases

During the operation in Syria, there were several bases mostly in the north: *
Al-Hasakah Governorate Al-Hasakah Governorate ( ar, محافظة الحسكة, Muḥāfaẓat al-Ḥasakah, ku, Parêzgeha Hesekê}, syc, ܗܘܦܪܟܝܐ ܕܚܣܟܗ, Huparkiyo d'Ḥasake, also known as syc, ܓܙܪܬܐ, Gozarto) is one of the fourteen governorates (prov ...
** Ash Shaddadi ** Hasaka Dam ** Kharab al-Jeer near
Al-Malikiyah Al-Malikiyah ( ar, ٱلْمَالِكِيَّة, al-Mālikīyah; ku, دێرکا حەمکۆ, translit=Dêrika Hemko; ) also known as Derik, is a small Syrian city and the center of an administrative district belonging to Al-Hasakah Governorate. ...
**
Rmelan Rmelan ( ar, رميلان, ku, Rimêlan) is a town in the al-Hasakah Governorate in the northeast of Syria. Administratively part of the al-Yaarubiyah nahiyah of al-Malikiyah District, the town is located 900 km northeast of the capital Da ...
(airbase) **
Tal Tamir Tell Tamer ( ar, تَلّ تَمْر, Tall Tamr, ku, گرێ خورما, Girê Xurma or Til Temir, syr, ܬܠ ܬܡܪ) also known as Tal Tamr or Tal Tamir, is a town in western al-Hasakah Governorate, northeastern Syria. It is the administrative c ...
**
Tell Beydar Tell Beydar is a village and ancient site in the modern Al-Hasakah Governorate, Syria. It was the Ancient Near Eastern city of Nabada. It is connected by road to Al-Darbasiyah on the Turkish border in the north. History Nabada was first settled d ...
*
Aleppo Governorate Aleppo Governorate ( ar, محافظة حلب / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Ḥalab'' / ) is one of the fourteen governorates of Syria. It is the most populous governorate in Syria with a population of more than 4,867,000 (2011 Est.), almost 23% of the ...
**
Ayn al-Arab Ayn may refer to: * Ayin or , a letter in many Semitic scripts * Ayn, Savoie, a commune of the Savoie département of France * Ghayn (Cyrillic) (Ғ,ғ), a letter used in the Bashkir, Kazakh, and Tajik alphabets * Ayn Rand, Russian-born American nov ...
** Dadat (outpost) ** Harab Isk (airbase) ** Sabt (airbase) **
Sarrin Sarrin ( ar, صرين, also spelled Serrin or Sareen) is a town in northern Syria, administratively part of the Aleppo Governorate, located northeast of Aleppo. It is situated 3 kilometers east of the Euphrates River, south of Kobanî and east ...
** Ushariya (outpost) *
Deir ez-Zor Governorate Deir ez-Zor Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة دير الزور / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Dayr az-Zawr'') is one of the fourteen governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in eastern Syria, bordering Iraq. It has an area of 33,060 km2 ( ...
** al-Omar oil fields ** Mission Support Site Conoco ** "Green Village" *
Homs Governorate Homs Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة حمص / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Ḥimṣ'') is one of the fourteen governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in central Syria. Its area differs in various sources, from to . It is thus geographical ...
** Al-Tanf *
Raqqa Governorate Raqqa Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة الرقة, Muḥāfaẓat ar-Raqqah) is one of the fourteen governorates of Syria. It is situated in the north of the country and covers an area of 19,618 km2. The capital is Raqqa. The Islamic State of ...
**
Ayn Issa Ayn Issa ( ar, عين عيسى, also spelled Ain Issa. Meaning ''Spring of Jesus'') is a town in the Tell Abyad District of Raqqa Governorate in Syria. It is located halfway between the Syria–Turkey border town of Tell Abyad and the regional capi ...
** al-Tabqah (airbase) ** Tal al-Samn However, following the
2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria The 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, code-named Operation Peace Spring ( tr, Barış Pınarı Harekâtı) by Turkey, was a cross-border military operation conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and the Syrian National Ar ...
, most U.S. soldiers withdrew from northern Syria to western Iraq in October 2019, while even bombing their own
Lafarge La Farge, LaFarge or Lafarge can refer to: People * Antoinette LaFarge (1966–), American artist and writer * Christopher Grant LaFarge (1862–1938), American architect and partner in the firm Heins & LaFarge * Christopher Grant La Farge ( ...
basement near Harab Isk. Meanwhile, ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' reported that the
Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon (from the Greek πέντε ''pente'' meaning ''five'' and γωνία ''gonia'' meaning ''angle'') is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simpl ...
was planning to "leave 150 Special Operations forces at a base called al-Tanf". In addition, 200 U.S. soldiers would remain in eastern Syria near the oil fields, to prevent the Islamic State, Syrian government and Russian forces from advancing in the region. However, at least 600–900 U.S. Troops are expected to stay in Syria, in Al-Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor Governorates. In July 2020, the U.S. military built a new base including an airport, located between Um Kahif village and Tal Alu silos near
Al-Yaarubiyah Al-Yaarubiyah ( ar, ٱلْيَعْرُبِيَّة, al-Yaʿrubīyah; ku, تلکۆچەر, Til Koçer) is a town in al-Hasakah Governorate, Syria. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Al-Yaarubiyah had a population of 6,066 ...
.


Casualties

According to
Airwars Airwars is a London, UK-based not-for-profit company that tracks and archives the international air war against Islamic State and other groups in Iraq, Syria and Libya, and assesses and follows up on credible allegations of civilian casualties fr ...
, in 2014 there were 63 incidents involving the US-led coalition in Iraq and Syria in which there were civilian casualties, causing at least 160 civilian deaths. In 2015, there were 268 incidents and 708 deaths. In 2016, there were 483 incidents and 1,372 deaths. Civilian casualties peaked in 2017, with 1,841 incidents and at least 4,677 civilian deaths.https://airwars.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/2019-Annual-Report-Web.pdf According to Airwars, 1,472 civilians were killed by the U.S. air campaign in Iraq and Syria in March 2017 alone. On March 17, a U.S.-led coalition airstrike in Mosul killed more than 200 civilians. Data compiled by Airwars shows that 229 strikes in Iraq and 878 strikes in Syria were carried out by Coalition forces in June 2017, killing an alleged total of 1,483 people. The reporting of 875 of those total alleged deaths is contested. In July 2017, Airwars recorded reports of an alleged 1,342 people were killed in Iraq and Syria by Coalition airstrikes. Of the allegations 812 were contested, and two were disproved. Casualty figures fell after the 2017 peak. According to Airwars, 2018 saw 192 incidents and 846 deaths; 2019 saw 72 incidents and 467 deaths. In 2019, the casualties were concentrated in the first quarter during the
Battle of Baghuz Fawqani The Battle of Baghuz Fawqani was an offensive by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), assisted by Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) airstrikes, artillery, and special forces personnel, that began on 9 February ...
including an alleged massacre of civilian human shields on 19 March. By 2020, Airwars had recorded a five-year total of 14,771 US-led Coalition strikes in Iraq and 19,829 in Syria and investigated 2,921 alleged civilian casualty incidents, estimating 8,259–13,135 civilian deaths, of whom around 2,000 were children, although the Coalition itself estimated just 1,377 or 1,417 civilian deaths. The
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
reported that efforts to minimize and count civilian deaths fell far short of the approach promised by the US military for its use of airstrikes in the war against IS. The Times reported that airstrikes against IS, as well as in the war in Afghanistan, was marked by "flawed intelligence, poor targeting and thousands of civilian deaths." The Times reported that efforts to minimize civilian casualties diminished after President Trump assumed office in 2017, stating "... the authority to approve strikes was pushed further down the chain of command, even as an overwhelming majority of strikes were carried out in the heat of war, and not planned far in advance." The Times reported that the US military systematically under-reported casualties, providing a total death count of 1,417, when the actual count was significantly higher. The report states that the military made little effort to accurately determine civilian casualties after the airstrikes. The military was also reluctant to divulge information about the casualties, in spite of promises of transparency, and news media were required to make numerous requests under the
Freedom of Information Act Freedom of Information Act may refer to the following legislations in different jurisdictions which mandate the national government to disclose certain data to the general public upon request: * Freedom of Information Act 1982, the Australian act * ...
, and had to repeatedly sue the US military to produce data.


Talon Anvil

During the years 2014 to 2019, an Air Force special operations group named Talon Anvil killed a significant number of non-combatant civilians, and often failed to follow US military protocols designed to minimize civilian casualties."Civilian Deaths Mounted as Secret U.S. Unit Pounded Islamic State", Dave Philipps , Eric Schmitt and Mark Mazzetti, December 12, 2021, ''New York Times,'' https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/12/us/civilian-deaths-war-isis.html In one particular bomb strike, in March 2019, the Baghuz airstrike, approximately 50 women and children were killed, and the Air Force subsequently covered the deaths up."How the U.S. Hid an Airstrike That Killed Dozens of Civilians in Syria", Dave Philipps and Eric Schmitt, Nov. 13, 2021, ''New York Times'' https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/13/us/us-airstrikes-civilian-deaths.html The Talon Anvil group operated under the auspices of Task Force 9, which was the US military unit responsible for ground operations in the war against IS in Syria. The group consisted of about 20 plains-clothes military personnel that operated out of anonymous office buildings in Iraq and Syria. In December 2021, the US Secretary of Defense ordered an investigation into the civilian deaths caused by Talon Anvil's bombing strikes.


See also

*
Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF–OIR) is a multinational military formation established by the U.S.-led international coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) with the stated aim to "d ...
, commander headquarters of ongoing operations **
Military intervention against the Islamic State aerial order of battle This is the Military intervention against ISIL aerial order of battle, which lists the American forces and allies aerial assets that have taken part in the Military intervention against ISIL between June 2014 and the present day. Sea deployments ...
* German intervention against the Islamic State, also named ''Operation Counter Daesh'', related German operations *
Opération Chammal Opération Chammal is a French military operation in Iraq and Syria launched to help curtail the expansion of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and to support the Iraqi Army. Its name comes from the Shamal (''Chammal'' in French), a no ...
, name for similar French operations *
Operation Impact On 3 October 2014, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that he would put forth a motion to send forces to participate in the coalition for military intervention against ISIL by deploying combat aircraft. On 7 October 2014, the Hous ...
, name for similar Canadian operations *
Operation Martyr Yalçın Operation Martyr Yalçın ( tr, Şehit Yalçın Operasyonu) was a military operation conducted by the Turkish Air Force against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) positions in Syria, and Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) positions in n ...
, name for similar Turkish operation against IS *
Operation Okra Operation Okra is the Australian Defence Force (ADF) contribution to the military intervention against the Islamic State. The force is part of Joint Task Force 633 in the Middle East. The operation commenced on 31 August 2014, and its initial ...
, name for similar Australian operations *
Operation Shader Operation Shader is the operational code name given to the contribution of the United Kingdom in the ongoing military intervention against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The operation involves the British Army providing ground s ...
, name for similar British operations *
Operation Tidal Wave II Operation Tidal Wave II was a US-led coalition military operation beginning on or about 21 October 2015 against oil transport, refining and distribution facilities and infrastructure under the control of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. ...
, name of a suboperation against IS oil infrastructure


References


External links


Operation Inherent Resolve
– Official Website
Global Coalition
– Official Website
Air Superiority Under 2000 Feet: Lessons From Waging Drone Warfare Against ISIL
{{Authority control 2010s in Syria Battles involving the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Counterterrorism in the United States Foreign policy of the Barack Obama administration Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and the United States Military operations of the War in Iraq (2013–2017) involving the United States Military operations of the Syrian civil war involving the United States Operations involving special forces