Credit, Reuters
-
Reading time: 4 min
The United States says its armed forces carried out a “massive attack” against the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria, in response to the deaths of American forces in the country.
US Central Command (Centcom) said warplanes, attack helicopters and artillery “hit more than 70 targets in multiple locations across central Syria.” Jordanian planes also participated.
The US government further stated that the operation “used more than 100 precision munitions” targeting known ISIS infrastructure and weapons sites.
President Donald Trump said “we are hitting very hard” against ISIS strongholds, after a Dec. 13 ambush by the group in the city of Palmyra killed two U.S. soldiers and a U.S. civilian interpreter.
In a statement Friday, Centcom, which directs U.S. military operations in Europe, Africa and the Indo-Pacific, said Operation Hawkeye Strike was launched at 6 p.m.
Centcom Commander Admiral Brad Cooper said the United States “will continue to relentlessly pursue terrorists who seek to harm Americans and our partners throughout the region.”
Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), told AFP that “at least five members of the Islamic State group were killed” in the Syrian province of Deir ez Zor, including the head of a cell responsible for drones in the region.
The Islamic State has not spoken publicly. The BBC was not immediately able to verify the targets.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the operation “is not the start of a war – it is a declaration of vengeance.”
“If you attack Americans – anywhere in the world – you will spend the rest of your brief, anxious life knowing that the United States will hunt you down, find you and kill you without mercy.”
“Today we hunt and kill our enemies. Many of them. And we will continue,” added the US Secretary of Defense.
Credit, US Air Force/Reuters
In a message posted to his social network Truth Social, Trump said the United States “is taking very serious retaliation, as I have promised, against the deadly terrorists responsible.”
He said the Syrian government “fully supports” the decision.
Central Command (Centcom) previously said the deadly Palmyra attack was carried out by an Islamic State gunman, who was “confronted and killed.”
Three other U.S. troops were injured in the ambush, and a Pentagon official said the incident occurred “in an area that the Syrian president does not control.”
At the same time, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) declared that the attacker was a member of the Syrian security forces.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack and the identity of the shooter has not been released.
Credit, Reuters
In 2019, a U.S.-backed alliance of Syrian fighters announced that Islamic State had lost the last territorial stronghold it controlled in Syria, but the jihadist group has since carried out some attacks.
The United Nations says the group still has between 5,000 and 7,000 fighters in Syria and Iraq.
U.S. troops have maintained a presence in Syria since 2015 to help train other forces in the campaign against Islamic State.
Syria recently joined an international coalition to fight Islamic State and pledged cooperation with the United States.
In November, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa – a former jihadist leader whose coalition forces toppled Bashar al-Assad’s regime in 2024 – met with Trump at the White House, calling his visit a “new era” for both countries.
About The Author
