Trump launches massive airstrikes in Syria as ‘vengeance’ for killing three Americans
US forces launched a wave of airstrikes against ISIS in Syria on Friday, the White House confirmed.
The move fulfills President Trump’s promise to retaliate for the killings of two U.S. Army soldiers and a translator during a terrorist ambush in the country’s central region last weekend.
American forces launched a series of air and ground strikes in central Syria, hitting several sites linked to ISIS.
“I am announcing very serious US retaliation for ISIS’s brutal murder in Syria of the brave American patriots whose beautiful souls I welcomed to American soil in a very dignified ceremony earlier this week,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Friday evening.
The strikes were reportedly carried out by U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles and A-10C Thunderbolts, along with Army helicopters and Artillery rocket systems.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth posts on X dubbing this ‘Operation Hawkeye Strike’ and labeling the actions a ‘declaration of revenge’.
Military aircraft and artillery were reportedly used to destroy weapons depots and other facilities linked to the group, a knowledgeable American source told the New York Times.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the secret nature of the operation, said this was a “major attack” that was expected.
US forces launched airstrikes against ISIS in Syria on Friday
American forces launched a series of air and ground strikes in central Syria, hitting several sites linked to ISIS.
ISIS fighter was seen waving a flag over a government warplane captured in Raqqa, Syria
The Secretary of War is doubling down on retaliatory strikes.
‘Today we hunted and killed our enemies. Many. And we will continue,’ Hegseth added.
Social media accounts about X across Syria reported that explosions were heard across the country, from Palmyra to Deir ez-Zor.
There are also reported strikes in the eastern Raqqa desert. accounts.
The strikes hit dozens of targets the military loyal to ISIS, including weapons depots and infrastructure.
The soldiers killed last Saturday were the first Americans to die in the country since Bashar al-Assad was removed from power last year. They were helping fight the Islamic State near Palmyra, a city in central Syria.
US officials named the two soldiers who died in Syria as Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, Iowa, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, Iowa.
Friday’s strikes by U.S. forces mark a major escalation in military action in Syria, even as the administration maintains a much smaller footprint of about 1,000 troops and is preparing for additional operations in the coming days.
1000 soldiers, half the number at the beginning of the year.
The United States still has several hundred troops stationed in Syria, continuing the anti-ISIS campaign that began in the mid-2010s after the group captured large swathes of Syria and Iraq.
Jordanian and Syrian Armed Forces are reportedly assisting the US Air Force and military in attacks against ISIS areas across the country tonight.
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa visited the White House last month in the first visit to the White House by a Syrian head of state since 1946.
Trump said in his Truth Social post that Al-Sharaa supported the attacks.
The president said terrorists who threaten or attack the United States will be ‘hit harder than you’ve been hit before.’
