A US strike killed an Al Qaeda leader with direct ties to the ISIS gunman who mowed down two American soldiers and an interpreter in an ambush last month, U.S. Central Command announced.
The Saturday airstrike took out Bilal Hasan al-Jasim, a terrorist leader affiliated with Al-Qaeda responsible for plotting attacks, according to CENTCOM.
“The death of a terrorist operative linked the death of three Americans demonstrates our resolve in pursuing terrorists who attack our forces,” CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper said in a statement.
Al-Jasim was closely linked with the Islamic State gunman who killed Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, along with an interpreter during the sneak attack in Palmyra, Syria on Dec. 13.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the US will “never forgive and never relent” in its fight against Islamic State terrorists in a post on X announcing the strike Saturday.
President Trump vowed “very serious retaliation” in a Truth Social post following the December attack, and launched Operation Hawkeye Strike a week later.
The operation was named in honor of Torres-Tovar and Howard, who were both from Iowa, the “Hawkeye State.”
The initial wave of strikes hit 70 targets around Syria and killed at least 5 ISIS terrorists, CENTCOM claimed.
The US struck at least 35 targets in Syria with precision-guided missiles launched by over two dozen aircraft in widespread strikes last week.
US forces have hit over 100 ISIS infrastructure and weapons sites with 200 precision munitions since Operation Hawkeye Strike began, according to CENTCOM.
The operation has killed over 20 ISIS terrorists and nabbed over 300, officials said.
“There is no safe place for those who conduct, plot, or inspire attacks on American citizens and our warfighters. We will find you,” Cooper said.
The strikes come as Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has been trying to stabilize the country following an exhaustive civil war that ousted the country’s former dictator Bashar al-Assad.
Trump lifted sanctions on Syria after meeting Sharaa in Saudia Arabia in June, before hosting the former al-Qaeda member at the White House in November.
Israeli and Syrian leaders recently met in Paris and agreed to pursue a security deal, the US announced earlier this month.
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