U.S. forces late Friday launched a massive attack against Islamic State targets across Syria, fulfilling President Trump’s vow of “retaliation” after an ISIS gunman killed three Americans last weekend.
U.S. Central Command said American forces, with support from Jordan, hit more than 70 sites across central Syria.
Fighter jets, attack helicopters and artillery were used in firing 100 precision munitions at ISIS infrastructure and weapons depots, CENTCOM said of Operation Hawkeye Strike.
In a statement on social media, Mr. Trump said the operation was retaliation for the ambush near Palmyra, Syria, in which Pentagon officials said two U.S. soldiers and one American civilian interpreter were gunned down by an ISIS terrorist.
“Because of ISIS’s vicious killing of brave American patriots in Syria, whose beautiful souls I welcomed home to American soil earlier this week in a very dignified ceremony, I am hereby announcing that the United States is inflicting very serious retaliation, just as I promised, on the murderous terrorists responsible,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “We are striking very strongly against ISIS strongholds in Syria, a place soaked in blood which has many problems, but one that has a bright future if ISIS can be eradicated.”
Mr. Trump added in all caps that any terrorists who attack Americans in the future will “be hit harder than you have ever been hit before.”
Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander, said the strikes will degrade ISIS’ capability to target Americans.
“This operation is critical to preventing ISIS from inspiring terrorist plots and attacks against the U.S. homeland,” he said in a statement. “We will continue to relentlessly pursue terrorists who seek to harm Americans and our partners across the region.”
Since the Dec. 13 ISIS attack, U.S. forces have conducted more than 80 operations targeting the terrorist group in Syria. Twenty-three ISIS operatives have been killed or captured, CENTCOM officials said.
The deaths of Americans in Syria and the U.S. retaliation come at a delicate moment for both governments. Ahmad al-Sharaa, who came to power in Damascus in December 2024 after the toppling of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, visited Mr. Trump in the Oval Office in November and will face tough questions about whether he and his fledgling government can contain the terrorist groups operating on Syrian soil.
At the same time, Mr. Trump is ramping up military operations in South America while targeting alleged drug boats off Venezuela.
A new level of engagement in Syria could meet political resistance at home. Critics already have major questions about what goals U.S. troops are trying to achieve there.
The U.S. has kept troops in Syria for years, even after Mr. Trump in his first term declared that the Islamic State was “territorially defeated.” Defeating ISIS, which during its height last decade controlled a huge swath of territory across Syria and neighboring Iraq, was the stated reason for the U.S. putting ground forces in Syria to begin with.
In the years since, the U.S. has maintained a force of 900 or 1,000 troops there.
The troops are in Syria to conduct counterterrorism operations against ISIS, according to Pentagon officials.
