The US military conducted widespread strikes on multiple Islamic State sites in Syria Friday, retaliating for an attack that killed American personnel, US officials confirmed.
This follows months of US-led coalition airstrikes and ground raids targeting ISIS suspects, often alongside Syrian forces.
After a weekend ISIS assault claimed US lives, President Donald Trump vowed a response.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described the campaign—”OPERATION HAWKEYE STRIKE”—as hitting “ISIS fighters, infrastructure, and weaponry.” He stressed: “This isn’t war’s beginning; it’s retribution. Today we hunted and destroyed many enemies—and we’ll keep going.”
Trump posted that Syria’s government fully backed the action, calling it “massive retaliation.”
A US official said F-15s, A-10s, Apache helicopters, and HIMARS rockets struck over 70 central Syria sites.
Syria’s foreign ministry reaffirmed its resolve to eradicate ISIS, denying the group any safe havens.
Attack Details
Two US soldiers and a civilian interpreter died in Palmyra when an attacker hit a joint US-Syrian convoy before being killed. Three more Americans were wounded.
About 1,000 US troops remain in Syria. The Syrian Interior Ministry identified the assailant as a security force member with alleged ISIS sympathies.
Syria’s current leadership—former rebels who toppled Bashar al-Assad after 13 years of civil war—includes ex-Al Qaeda members who split off and fought ISIS.
Last month, during President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s White House visit, Syria cemented cooperation with the US-led anti-ISIS coalition.
