US retaliatory strikes in Syria kill at least five IS members, with Jordan participating. The raids follow a deadly attack on American troops.
DAMASCUS: US airstrikes in Syria have killed at least five Islamic State group members, a war monitor confirmed on Saturday.
The overnight strikes were described by US President Donald Trump as “very serious retaliation” for a December 13 attack that killed two US soldiers and a civilian in Palmyra.
Jordan’s military confirmed its air force participated in the operation to prevent extremist groups from using the area as a launchpad.
Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said those killed included the leader of a local IS drone cell in Deir Ezzor province.
A Syrian security source told AFP the US strikes targeted IS cells in the vast Badia desert, including in Homs, Deir Ezzor and Raqa provinces.
US Central Command stated it struck more than 70 targets using fighter jets, attack helicopters and artillery.
“The operation employed more than 100 precision munitions targeting known ISIS infrastructure and weapons sites,” CENTCOM said.
A Syrian security official described the bombardment as intense, lasting around five hours but far from population centres.
Syria’s foreign ministry reiterated its commitment to fighting IS and denying it safe havens on its territory.
Trump stated the US was “inflicting very serious retaliation, just as I promised, on the murderous terrorists responsible”.
CENTCOM noted that since the Palmyra attack, US and allied forces have conducted 10 operations in Syria and Iraq.
These operations resulted in the deaths or detention of 23 terrorist operatives.
The US personnel targeted were supporting Operation Inherent Resolve, the international anti-IS coalition.
IS was territorially defeated in Syria in 2019 but maintains a presence in the country’s desert regions.
US forces remain deployed in Syria’s Kurdish-controlled northeast and at the Al-Tanf garrison near Jordan.
Jordan has been a key coalition partner and a previous target of IS attacks.
