US, Dec 20 : The United States has launched a series of military strikes against Islamic State (ISIS) infrastructure and weapons sites in Syria, officials confirmed on Friday, in retaliation for an attack that killed three Americans earlier this month.
The strikes follow a December 13 assault on US and partner forces near Palmyra, in which two US Army soldiers and a civilian interpreter were killed during a counterterrorism engagement. President Donald Trump had vowed swift retaliation, a promise he reiterated while announcing the operation.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the US was “inflicting very serious retaliation” on those responsible for the attack. “We are striking very strongly against ISIS strongholds in Syria, a place soaked in blood which has many problems, but one that has a bright future if ISIS can be eradicated,” he wrote.
According to US officials, the operation named Operation Hawkeye Strike aims to prevent ISIS from reconstituting its networks by targeting key locations, infrastructure and weapons caches on a large scale. The strikes are expected to continue for several weeks, possibly up to a month.
The US military deployed A-10 attack aircraft, F-16 fighter jets, Apache helicopters and HIMARS rocket systems, with Jordanian F-16s providing support. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the operation had already killed “many enemy fighters,” stressing that the action was a direct response to the Palmyra attack.
“This is not the beginning of a war it is a declaration of vengeance,” Hegseth said in a post on X.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said President Trump was delivering on his commitment to retaliate for the killing of US personnel by ISIS. “The United States will always defend its forces and hold terrorists accountable,” she said.
The December 13 attack also left three other US personnel wounded. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said the troops were conducting a key leader engagement in support of ongoing counter ISIS operations when the shooting occurred.
The US Army identified the two soldiers killed as Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, Iowa both members of the Iowa National Guard. The civilian interpreter who was killed was identified as Ayad Mansoor Sakat of Macomb, Michigan.
Syrian officials said the assailant, who was killed during the incident, had joined Syria’s internal security forces two months earlier and was under suspicion of having ISIS links.
Further details on casualties and damage from the ongoing US strikes were not immediately available.