US bombs Islamic State targets in Syria after attack on personnel
The US late on Friday carried out dozens of air strikes on Syrian targets as part of its response to the killing of three Americans last week, who were identified as two soldiers and one civilian interpreter.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced the attack on X, calling it "Operation Hawkeye Strike", which is intended to "eliminate ISIS fighters, infrastructure, and weapons sites in direct response to the attack on US forces that occurred on December 13th in Palmyra, Syria", using another acronym for the Islamic State militant (IS) group.
"This is not the beginning of a war," he warned. "It is a declaration of vengeance."
"If you target Americans - anywhere in the world - you will spend the rest of your brief, anxious life knowing the United States will hunt you, find you, and ruthlessly kill you. Today, we hunted and we killed our enemies. Lots of them. And we will continue," Hegseth wrote.
The Syrian government, meanwhile, reiterated its commitment to combat IS in a statement released by the Syrian foreign ministry.
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US President Donald Trump said in a post on his TruthSocial account that Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, "a man who is working very hard to bring Greatness back to Syria... is fully in support".
US-Syria patrol
The US, in conjunction with Syrian forces, has carried out several attacks on IS members over the past year.
Six days ago, US Central Command (Centcom) said that an IS fighter ambushed US personnel in Syria.
Centcom said US troops came under fire in the Palmyra area of central Syria, prompting an immediate response. US forces engaged the attacker and killed the gunman responsible for the ambush.
The Pentagon said the attack took place while US soldiers were holding a meeting with local leaders in Palmyra, underscoring the risks facing troops during engagement missions on the ground.
US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack condemned the attack, describing it as a “cowardly terrorist ambush” that targeted a joint US-Syrian patrol.
The Syrian interior ministry later described the attacker as a member of the Syrian security forces who is suspected of having IS sympathies.
There are currently around 1,000 US troops under a counter-IS mission in northern Syria.
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