The United States carried out “large-scale” retaliatory strikes against Islamic State targets across Syria on Sunday, following last month’s ambush near Palmyra that killed two US soldiers and an American civilian interpreter.
US Central Command said the strikes began around 12.30 pm ET and were conducted alongside partner forces, hitting multiple ISIS targets across the country. A US official told CNN that more than 90 precision munitions were fired using more than two dozen aircraft.
Also read |'Operation Hawkeye Strike': US carries out 'large-scale' airstrikes on Syria; targets ISISSaturday’s strikes are part of Operation Hawkeye Strike, the Trump administration’s response to the December attack that killed Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, and civilian interpreter Ayad Mansoor Sakat while they were supporting Operation Inherent Resolve, the US-led mission to defeat ISIS.
Warning to ISIS
US Central Command said the strikes were aimed at preventing future attacks and degrading ISIS’s remaining capabilities in Syria.
“The strikes today targeted ISIS throughout Syria as part of our ongoing commitment to root out Islamic terrorism against our warfighters, prevent future attacks, and protect American and partner forces in the region,” the command said in a statement on X.
“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,” US Central Command said.
Palmyra attack and escalating response
The December ambush marked the first deadly attack on US personnel in Syria since the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, Iowa, and Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, were members of the Iowa National Guard. Three other Guard members were injured.
Operation Hawkeye Strike was launched on December 19 with a large-scale operation that hit roughly 70 ISIS targets across central Syria. The United States and Jordan also carried out a previous round of strikes under the same operation last month.
A day before Saturday’s strikes, Syrian officials said their security forces had arrested the military leader of ISIS’s operations in the Levant.
Tensions flare in Aleppo
Saturday also saw intense clashes in northern Syria’s Aleppo city, where Syrian government forces deployed in the Kurdish-majority Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood after days of fighting with Kurdish fighters that left dozens dead and wounded.
According to Syria’s state news agency SANA, two Kurdish fighters blew themselves up while surrounded by security forces, causing no casualties. Gunfire was reportedly still heard around noon as security forces urged residents to stay indoors. Later in the day, an explosive drone struck the Aleppo Governorate building shortly after a press conference by two Cabinet ministers and a local official.
The clashes began Tuesday in Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh, and Bani Zaid after negotiations between the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stalled over integrating Kurdish forces into the national army. Government forces have since taken control of Achrafieh and Bani Zaid. Five days of fighting killed at least 22 people, including civilians on both sides, according to AP.
The United States on Saturday called on the Syrian government and Kurdish authorities to return to negotiations, AFP reported. Conflicting reports emerged from Aleppo, with authorities claiming a halt to fighting and the transfer of Kurdish fighters out of the city, which the Kurdish forces denied.
US role and ongoing mission
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have long been the United States’ main partner against ISIS, but since Assad’s ouster, Washington has increasingly coordinated with Syria’s central government in Damascus. Syria recently joined the global coalition against ISIS.
Despite President Donald Trump’s skepticism about US involvement in Syria, hundreds of American troops remain deployed as part of Operation Inherent Resolve. In April, the Pentagon announced plans to cut troop levels in half, and in June US envoy Tom Barrack said the United States would eventually reduce its bases in the country to one.