The U.S. has launched a sustained series of military strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria, retaliating for a Dec. 13 attack that killed two U.S. Army soldiers and a U.S. civilian interpreter during a counterterrorism engagement near the city of Palmyra, U.S. officials said.
The operation marks the most significant U.S. military action against ISIS in Syria in months and underscores Washington's renewed effort to prevent the militant group from rebuilding its operational networks. U.S. officials said the strikes are intended to deter further attacks on American forces without escalating into a broader conflict.
President Donald Trump announced the operation Friday, saying the strikes were aimed at those responsible for the killings. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said U.S. forces were "inflicting very serious retaliation" on ISIS strongholds in Syria, according to NBC News.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the campaign, known as Operation Hawkeye Strike, began Friday and is targeting ISIS fighters, infrastructure and weapons sites. "This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance," Hegseth said in a statement posted on X, ABC News reported.
U.S. Central Command said American forces used a mix of A-10 attack aircraft, F-16 fighter jets, Apache helicopters and HIMARS rocket systems in the strikes. Jordanian F-16s also provided support during the initial phase of the operation, according to Reuters. U.S. officials told the outlet the campaign could last several weeks as forces target areas where ISIS is attempting to reconstitute.
The strikes followed a Dec. 13 shooting near the historic Syrian city of Palmyra during what the Pentagon described as a counterterrorism engagement supporting ongoing operations against ISIS. Three additional U.S. personnel were wounded in the attack, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said, according to The Associated Press.
The soldiers killed were Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, Iowa. Both were members of the Iowa National Guard, the U.S. Army said. The civilian killed was Ayad Mansoor Sakat, of Macomb, Michigan, who was working as a U.S. interpreter.
Syrian authorities said the assailant had joined the country's internal security forces two months earlier and had recently been reassigned amid suspicions of possible ties to ISIS. The gunman was killed during the attack, Syria's Interior Ministry said, according to Al Jazeera.
White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said the strikes fulfilled the president's pledge to respond. "President Trump told the world that the United States would retaliate for the killing of our heroes by ISIS in Syria, and he is delivering on that promise," she said, according to NBC News.
U.S. officials have not released casualty figures from the strikes, and additional details about the scope and impact of the operation were not immediately available early Saturday.
