The United States military carried out a large-scale assault on Islamic State positions across Syria on Friday, striking more than 70 targets in what officials described as a direct response to a deadly attack on U.S. personnel last weekend. The operation marked one of the most extensive U.S. military actions in Syria in recent months and underscored Washington’s vow to retaliate forcefully against militant threats.
U.S. officials said the strikes focused on Islamic State fighters, infrastructure and weapons sites spread across central Syria. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the operation, dubbed Operation Hawkeye Strike, was intended to send an unmistakable message. He described the mission not as the start of a new conflict but as an act of retribution, saying U.S. forces had deliberately hunted down and killed Islamic State members and would continue to do so.
President Donald Trump echoed that message, saying on social media that the Syrian government had fully supported the strikes and that the United States was delivering “very serious retaliation.” Speaking later at a rally in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, Trump called the operation a massive blow against the Islamic State militants blamed for the Dec. 13 attack on coalition forces. He told supporters the strikes were highly successful and directly targeted those responsible.
U.S. Central Command said the offensive involved American F-15 and A-10 fighter jets, Apache helicopters and HIMARS rocket systems, with support from Jordanian fighter aircraft. The strikes were part of an ongoing campaign by a U.S.-led coalition that has conducted air and ground operations against Islamic State suspects in Syria in recent months, often in coordination with Syrian security forces.
The escalation follows an attack last Saturday in the central Syrian city of Palmyra, where an assailant targeted a convoy of American and Syrian forces. Two U.S. Army soldiers and a civilian interpreter were killed, while three other U.S. soldiers were wounded. The attacker was shot dead at the scene. Syria’s Interior Ministry later said the suspect was a member of the Syrian security forces believed to have sympathized with Islamic State.
Syria’s foreign ministry said the government remained firmly committed to fighting Islamic State and ensuring the group has no safe haven on Syrian territory. About 1,000 U.S. troops are still stationed in Syria as part of the coalition effort to prevent a resurgence of the extremist group.
Syria’s current government, led by former rebel factions that overthrew Bashar al-Assad last year after a 13-year civil war, includes figures who once belonged to Syria’s former Al Qaeda branch but later broke away and fought against Islamic State. The new leadership has increased cooperation with the United States, formalized last month during a visit by President Ahmed al-Sharaa to the White House, signaling a rare alignment between Washington and Damascus against a common enemy.
