US hits ISIS in Syria with large retaliatory strikes, officials say
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President Donald Trump saluting during a dignified transfer on Dec 17 at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, of the remains of two US Army soldiers and a civilian interpreter who were killed in Syria on Dec 13.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON – The US military launched air strikes against dozens of ISIS targets in Syria on Dec 19 in retaliation for an attack on US personnel, US officials said.
A US-led coalition has been carrying out air strikes and ground operations in Syria targeting ISIS suspects in recent months, often with the involvement of Syria’s security forces.
US President Donald Trump had vowed to retaliate after a suspected ISIS attack killed American personnel last weekend in Syria.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that the strikes targeted “ISIS fighters, infrastructure and weapons sites” and said the operation was called Operation Hawkeye Strike.
“This is not the beginning of a war – it is a declaration of vengeance,” Mr Hegseth said.
“Today, we hunted and we killed our enemies. Lots of them. And we will continue,” he added.
Mr Trump said on social media that the Syrian government fully supported the strikes and that the US was inflicting “very serious retaliation”.
At a speech in North Carolina on the night of Dec 19, Mr Trump called the strikes a “massive” blow against the ISIS members that the US blames for the Dec 13 attack on coalition forces.
“We hit the ISIS thugs in Syria... It was very successful,” he said at a rally in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
US Central Command said the strikes hit more than 70 targets across central Syria, adding that Jordanian fighter jets supported the operation.
One US official said the strikes were carried out by its F-15 and A-10 jets, along with Apache helicopters and HIMARS rocket systems.
Syria reiterated its steadfast commitment to fighting the ISIS terror group and ensuring that it had “no safe havens on Syrian territory”, according to a statement by its Foreign Ministry.
Two US Army soldiers and a civilian interpreter were killed
About 1,000 US troops remain in Syria.
The Syrian Interior Ministry has described the attacker as a member of the Syrian security forces suspected of sympathising with ISIS.
Syria’s government is now led by former rebels who toppled leader Bashar al-Assad in 2024 after a 13-year civil war, and includes members of Syria’s former Al-Qaeda branch who broke with the group and clashed with ISIS.
Syria has been cooperating with a US-led coalition against ISIS, reaching an agreement in November when President Ahmed al-Sharaa visited the White House. REUTERS
