WASHINGTON: US forces on Friday (Dec 19) launched a major military operation against the Islamic State group in Syria that President Donald Trump described as “very serious retaliation” for an attack that killed three Americans – two soldiers and a civilian.
Washington said a lone gunman from the militant group carried out the Dec 13 attack in Palmyra – home to UNESCO-listed ancient ruins and once controlled by jihadist fighters – which also wounded three US service members.
“US forces commenced OPERATION HAWKEYE STRIKE in Syria to eliminate ISIS fighters, infrastructure, and weapons sites in direct response to the attack on US forces that occurred on Dec 13th in Palmyra, Syria,” US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on X, using an acronym for the jihadist group.
“This is not the beginning of a war – it is a declaration of vengeance,” he wrote, adding: “Today, we hunted and we killed our enemies. Lots of them. And we will continue.”
Trump said in a post on his Truth Social network that US forces are “inflicting very serious retaliation, just as I promised, on the murderous terrorists responsible”, and that those who attack Americans “WILL BE HIT HARDER THAN YOU HAVE EVER BEEN HIT BEFORE”.
US Central Command announced that American forces had “commenced a large-scale strike against ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) infrastructure and weapons sites in Syria”, while a security source in the Middle Eastern country said air strikes had targeted Islamic State group positions in the Homs desert and rural areas of Deir Ezzor and Raqqa.
According to the US military, more than 70 targets were hit in the strikes.
“NO SAFE HAVENS”
Syria’s foreign ministry, while not directly commenting on the US strikes, said in a post on X that is committed to fighting Islamic State and “ensuring that it has no safe havens on Syrian territory”.
The Americans killed in the Palmyra attack last weekend were Iowa National Guard sergeants William Howard and Edgar Torres Tovar and Ayad Mansoor Sakat, a civilian from Michigan who worked as an interpreter.
Trump, Hegseth and top military officer General Dan Caine were among the US officials who attended a sombre ceremony marking the return of the dead to the United States on Wednesday.
