US and allied forces conduct large-scale strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria, responding to a deadly attack in Palmyra last month
WASHINGTON: US and allied forces carried out large-scale strikes against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group in Syria.
The operation was a direct response to a deadly IS attack on US and Syrian forces in Palmyra last month.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said multiple strikes targeted IS throughout Syria as part of Operation Hawkeye Strike.
Jordan’s air force also conducted targeted air strikes against IS as part of the same operation.
Two US soldiers and a US civilian interpreter were killed on December 13 after a lone gunman ambushed them in Palmyra.
Washington described the gunman as an IS militant, while Syria’s interior ministry said he was a security forces member set to be fired for extremism.
“We will never forget, and never relent,” US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a statement.
The United States and Jordan carried out a previous round of strikes last month in response to the Palmyra attack.
CENTCOM said at the time that more than 70 targets had been hit in those strikes.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported those earlier strikes killed at least five IS members, including a cell leader.
On January 3, Britain and France announced joint strikes targeting an underground IS weapons storage facility.
The US personnel targeted in Palmyra were supporting Operation Inherent Resolve, the international effort to combat IS.
The jihadist group seized swaths of Syrian and Iraqi territory in 2014 before being defeated by local forces backed by international air strikes.
IS still maintains a presence in Syria, especially in the country’s vast desert regions.
US President Donald Trump has long been skeptical of Washington’s military presence in Syria.
The Pentagon announced in April that the United States would halve the number of US personnel in Syria in the following months.
US envoy for Syria Tom Barrack said in June that Washington would eventually reduce its bases in the country to one.
