US launches retaliatory strikes in Syria

 The U.S. military conducted strikes against several Islamic State group sites in Syria on Friday, retaliating a week after two U.S. service members and one civilian were killed by a gunman tied to ISIS in an ambush attack. 

U.S. forces, as part of “Operation Hawkeye Strike,” eliminated ISIS fighters, weapons sites and infrastructure in response to the attack on U.S. service members in Palmyra, Syria, on Dec. 13, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Friday. 

“This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance. The United States of America, under President Trump’s leadership, will never hesitate and never relent to defend our people,” Hegseth said in the post. 

“As we said directly following the savage attack, if you target Americans — anywhere in the world — you will spend the rest of your brief, anxious life knowing the United States will hunt you, find you and ruthlessly kill you,” the Pentagon chief said, indicating that these attacks will continue. 

Explosions were heard in the eastern Syrian city of Deir ez-Zur, and strikes were reported in the Eastern Raqqa desert, according to multiple social media reports. 

President Trump said Friday evening the U.S. military struck “very strongly against ISIS strongholds” in Syria, writing on Truth Social that it is a “place soaked in blood which has many problems, but one that has a bright future if ISIS can be eradicated.”  

Trump and Hegseth vowed that the U.S. would retaliate against ISIS in Syria after two Iowa National Guard members, Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, were killed in what the U.S. said was an ambush attack. A U.S. civilian working as an interpreter was also killed. Three other Guard members were injured in the attack. 

“All terrorists who are evil enough to attack Americans are hereby warned — YOU WILL BE HIT HARDER THAN YOU HAVE EVER BEEN HIT BEFORE IF YOU, IN ANY WAY, ATTACK OR THREATEN THE U.S.A,” the president wrote on Friday. 

The killing of U.S. service members in Palmyra marked the first casualties in Syria since the country’s dictator Bashar Assad fell last year. 

The U.S.’s military presence in Syria has dropped in recent years; there are about 1,000 troops stationed there. 

Trump has defended keeping U.S. troops in Syria, arguing recently they are there to keep “peace in the Middle East, and Syria is a big part of it.”

The president praised new Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and said his government had nothing to do with the Dec. 13 attack. 

“This is a rough part of the world, and it’s amazing what’s taken place in Syria. … We have legitimate peace in the Middle East, first time in 3,000 years,” Trump said Monday.  

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5657742-us-military-strikes-isis-syria/