The United States carried out a sweeping series of airstrikes across central Syria on Friday, targeting positions of the Islamic State (ISIS) in what Washington describes as a direct response to last week’s deadly attack that killed two American soldiers and an interpreter near Palmyra. The operation marks one of the largest American military actions in Syria in several years and signals a significant escalation under President Donald Trump’s new administration.
The Pentagon confirmed that Operation Hawkeye Strike involved fighter jets, attack helicopters and artillery assets deployed across multiple locations including the desert regions around Homs, Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa. According to US Central Command (CENTCOM), more than 70 ISIS-linked sites were struck and over 100 precision munitions were launched during the first hours of the assault.
Trump: “We are hitting ISIS strongholds very hard”
President Trump announced the strikes earlier on Truth Social, calling them “very heavy retribution” and vowing that the United States “will never hesitate and will never back down” in defending American personnel abroad. He reiterated that the attack on US troops in Palmyra demanded a forceful response, adding that the operation targeted “ISIS strongholds” across Syrian territory.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth framed the strikes explicitly as retaliation rather than as the beginning of a broader conflict. Writing on X, he stated that the mission aimed to “eliminate ISIS fighters, infrastructure and weapons storage sites as a direct response to the 13 December attack.”
Naval Commander Brad Cooper, speaking on behalf of CENTCOM, said the US would “continue to relentlessly pursue terrorists who seek to harm Americans and our partners across the region.”
Wider regional context: ISIS remnants still active in the desert
According to AFP reporting, the strikes hit areas where ISIS cells remain active despite the collapse of their territorial “caliphate” in 2019. Fighters embedded in remote desert terrain have continued to launch ambushes, roadside bombs and targeted attacks against both Syrian government forces and US installations.
Syrian security sources told AFP that explosions were reported in desert zones outside Homs, with additional strikes near Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor. Local officials described follow-up gunfire in the Raqqa countryside shortly after the initial bombardment.
Reuters adds that the attack responsible for killing the two US soldiers was allegedly carried out by an individual affiliated with Syrian security forces, marking the first such incident since a coalition of Islamist and jihadist groups seized power in Damascus last year and opened channels of communication with Washington.
Damascus condemns US strikes but pledges intensified operations against ISIS
Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on Saturday affirming its “commitment to combat ISIS” while simultaneously denouncing the American operation. The government said it would “intensify its own military efforts” against ISIS cells across the desert region.
The strikes come just weeks after a transitional Syrian president visited Washington and formally joined the US-led anti-ISIS coalition, as reported by AP. The political shift raised expectations of closer coordination against jihadist groups, although the latest escalation highlights the fragility and complexity of the security landscape.
US troop presence under new scrutiny
The return of Donald Trump to the White House has revived long-standing questions over whether American forces will remain in Syria. Trump has repeatedly expressed scepticism about US troop deployments overseas, and in April the Pentagon announced plans to cut the US presence in Syria by half. The exact number of American personnel in the country remains undisclosed.
For now, US forces continue to operate primarily in Kurdish-controlled areas in the northeast and at the strategic al-Tanf base near the Jordanian border. Analysts told Reuters that Friday’s strikes show the administration is not retreating from Syria in the immediate term – but the long-term strategy remains unclear.
ISIS attack that triggered the US response
The Pentagon confirmed that the assailant who killed the two American soldiers and their interpreter near Palmyra has been identified as a member of the Syrian security forces. The incident represents a major security breach in an area where ISIS cells maintain a persistent presence and where US forces are already stretched thin.
ISIS previously held Palmyra during its peak territorial expansion before losing the area during coalition operations in 2017 and 2019. Despite territorial losses, sleeper cells remain active in vast ungoverned stretches of desert.
Sources: Reuters, AFP, NBC News