The US military launched airstrikes against dozens of Islamic State targets in Syria on Friday in retaliation for an attack on US personnel, two US officials have said.
The attacks came after Donald Trump vowed to hit back after an attack last weekend in Syria by a suspected Islamic State member.
A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity on Friday, described the strikes as a large-scale response that included targets across central Syria.
Trump said on social media that the Syrian government fully supported the strikes and that the US was inflicting “very serious retaliation”.
US Central Command said the strikes hit more than 70 targets across central Syria, adding that Jordanian fighter jets supported the operation.
Videos of explosions across parts of the eastern province of Deir el-Zour and the central Syrian desert circulated on social media afterwards.
Syria reiterated its commitment to fighting Islamic State and ensuring it had “no safe havens on Syrian territory”, and said the US operation was fully coordinated with Syrian authorities, according to a statement from the foreign ministry.
“The Syrian Arab Republic also calls on the United States and member states of the international coalition to join in supporting Syria’s efforts in combating terrorism in a way that contributes to protecting civilians and restoring security and stability in the region,” the Syrian foreign ministry said.
Two Iowa national guard members and a civilian interpreter were killed last Saturday in the central Syrian town of Palmyra by an attacker who targeted a convoy of US and Syrian forces before being shot dead, according to the US military. Three other US soldiers were wounded.
There are 1,000 US troops in Syria, posted with the mission to prevent the resurgence of IS in the region.
The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, suggested attacks against IS would continue.
An unnamed US official quoted by the Associated Press said the military operation against IS had no set timeframe, suggesting more attacks could be carried out against the group.
“This is not the beginning of a war – it is a declaration of vengeance,” Hegseth said on social media. “The United States of America, under President Trump’s leadership, will never hesitate and never relent to defend our people.”
Hegseth added: “Today, we hunted and we killed our enemies. Lots of them. And we will continue.” He offered no other details about the strikes.
He said they targeted “ISIS fighters, infrastructure, and weapons sites” and that the operation was “OPERATION HAWKEYE STRIKE”.
The Americans killed last weekend were the first US casualties in the country since the fall of the dictator Bashar al-Assad last year. They were supporting counter-terrorism operations against Islamic State when they were attacked by a lone gunman, according to officials in both countries.
The Syrian interior ministry has described the attacker as a member of the Syrian security forces suspected of sympathizing with Islamic State.
IS has stepped up its recruitment campaign in Syria since the toppling of Assad. It has tried to peel off former members of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the disbanded Islamist rebel group from which the central cadre of Syria’s new leadership hails, portraying the new government’s embrace of western states as a betrayal of its Islamist roots.
The group has carried out an average of 60 attacks a month in Syria this year, according to Syria Weekly.
A US official told Fox News that the Syrian government and US forces had carried out raids on more than 50 IS targets in Syria, resulting in the arrest and killing of more than 20 members of the organisation.
On Thursday, Trump signed a law repealing a final batch of crippling economic sanctions on Syria, which were imposed to punish Assad for human rights abuses during the country’s civil war. After Assad was ousted in a December 2024, advocates pushed to have the sanctions lifted.
Syria’s government is led by former rebels who toppled Assad last year after a 13-year civil war, and includes members of Syria’s former Al-Qaida branch who broke with the group and clashed with IS.
Syria has been cooperating with a US-led coalition against Islamic State, reaching an agreement last month when President Ahmed al-Sharaa visited the White House.
