Trump said Syria supported the strikes and the US retaliated “very severely,” he said.
U.S. airmen prepare to load GBU-31 munitions systems into F-15E Strike Eagles inside the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, Dec. 19, 2025, in support of Operation Hawkeye Strike as the U.S. military launched large-scale strikes against dozens of Islamic State targets in Syria. PHOTO: REUTERS
The US military launched large-scale strikes against dozens of Islamic State targets in Syria on Friday in retaliation for an attack on US personnel, US officials said.
A US-led coalition has been conducting airstrikes and ground operations in Syria targeting Islamic State suspects in recent months, often with the involvement of Syrian security forces.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the strikes targeted “ISIS fighters, infrastructure and weapons emplacements” and that the operation was “OPERATION HAWKEYE Strike”.
“This is not the start of a war – it is a declaration of revenge,” Hegseth said. “Today we hunted down and killed our enemies. Lots of them. And we will continue,” he added.
Trump said on social media that the Syrian government fully supported the strikes and that the US was retaliating “very severely”.
In a speech in North Carolina on Friday night, Trump called it a “major” blow against ISIS members who the US blames for the December 13 attack on coalition forces.
“We beat the ISIS thugs in Syria … It was very successful,” Trump said at a rally in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
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The US Central Command said the strikes hit more than 70 targets across central Syria, adding that Jordanian warplanes supported the operation.
A US official said the strikes were carried out by US F-15 and A-10 jets, along with Apache helicopters and HIMARS missile systems.
Syria reiterated its firm commitment to fighting Islamic State and ensuring it has “no safe havens on Syrian soil,” according to a foreign ministry statement.
Two US Army soldiers and a civilian interpreter were killed Saturday in the central Syrian city of Palmyra by an attacker who targeted a convoy of US and Syrian forces before being shot, the US military said. Three other US soldiers were also injured in the attack.
About 1,000 US troops remain in Syria.
Syria’s interior ministry described the attacker as a member of the Syrian security forces suspected of sympathizing with Islamic State.
Syria’s government is led by former rebels who ousted leader Bashar al-Assad last year after a 13-year civil war, and includes members of the former al-Qaeda branch in Syria who broke with the group and clashed with Islamic State.
Syria is working with a US-led coalition against Islamic State, reaching an agreement last month when President Ahmed al-Sharaa visited the White House.
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