Donald Trump has launched new strikes in Syria to drive out a resurgent Islamic State, after the terror group killed two American soldiers and an interpreter last month.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) on Saturday confirmed the latest strikes against ISIS in Syria, with one official saying two dozen aircraft had carried out 90 strikes on 35 targets.
CENTCOM shared grainy black and white footage of explosions and reiterated its commitment to “rooting out Islamic terrorism” and protecting partners in the region.
Operation Hawkeye Strike, launched in December, has been developed in a new partnership with the Syrian government that displaced longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad little over a year ago.
The Independent looks at what Operation Hawkeye involves, and why it has happened now.
What prompted the U.S. to act?
The latest U.S. activity in Syria began in the days after a lethal ISIS attack on American and Syrian forces in Palmyra.
According to the U.S. government, ISIS killed two American soldiers and a handler on 13 December. Syria’s interior ministry said the attacker was a police officer suspected of sympathising with Islamic State.
The victims were identified as Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres Tovar, 25, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29. Three other Iowa National Guard members were wounded, officials said.
Within a week, the U.S. had launched massive strikes against dozens of ISIS targets in conjunction with the Jordanian air force. Secretary of defense Pete Hegseth said coalition forces struck fighters, infrastructure, and weapons sites on 19 December, and named the operation ‘Hawkeye’.
How effective have the strikes been?
One U.S. official said Washington had used F-15s fighter jets, A-10 Warthogs, Apache helicopters and HIMARS rocket systems to hit ISIS cells in the December assault. A Syrian security said targets were struck in Homs, Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa provinces. With only around 1,000 troops left in Syria, the US did not carry out any ground operations.
Five ISIS members were killed, including the head of a cell responsible for operating drones in the area, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Another Syrian official told the AFP news agency that the “intense” bombardment had lasted five hours.
Trump, who authorized the strikes, said that they had the full support of Syrian president Ahmed al Sharaa, who reached an agreement with Washington during a visit in November.
On 10 January, the U.S. carried out a second wave of strikes on targets across Syria with unnamed ‘partner forces’.
An unnamed US official told CNN that the operation launched 90 precision munitions at more than 35 targets, using over two dozen aircraft. It is not yet clear if there were any casualties.
CENTCOM said: “Our message remains strong: if you harm our warfighters, we will find you and kill you anywhere in the world, no matter how hard you try to evade justice.”
Trump’s shifting position on Syria
A fragile amnesty for the Syrian government has allowed the U.S. to scale up its work to oust ISIS. But after the fall of Assad, it was unclear whether Washington would stick around to finish off the group.
The U.S. had spent 10 years in the country fighting ISIS under ‘Operation Inherent Resolve’ by 2024. By 2019, the terror group was exhausted and had lost all its major positions in Syria. The group moved underground while factions continued deadly attacks on civilians abroad and plotted attacks in Europe.
When al Sharaa’s HTS swept into Damascus in November 2024, then president-elect Trump opposed the Biden administration’s use of precision airstrikes against ISIS camps in Syria.
He said the U.S. “should have nothing to do with” the country and added: “This is not our fight. Let it play out. Do not get involved. Syria is a mess, but it is not our friend”.
Over the last year, the president has lifted sanctions on Syria and vowed to crush a resurgent Islamic State, whether in the Middle East or elsewhere.
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