U.S. forces acted under what the Pentagon called Operation Hawkeye Strike, targeting ISIS fighters, weapons sites and infrastructure, according to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. He said: “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 the strikes were a direct response to the killings and signalled further action against those responsible. He added: “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.”
Explosions were reported in the eastern Syrian city of Deir ez-Zur, with additional strikes said to have hit the eastern Raqqa desert, based on multiple social media reports. The Pentagon did not immediately provide further details on the scale of the damage.
President Donald Trump said the U.S. military struck “very strongly against ISIS strongholds” in Syria. Writing on Truth Social, he described Syria as a “place soaked in blood which has many problems, but one that has a bright future if ISIS can be eradicated.”
Trump and Hegseth said the U.S. would retaliate after two Iowa National Guard members, Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, were killed in what the US described as an ambush. A US civilian interpreter was also killed, while three other Guard members were injured.
In another post on Friday, Trump warned militant groups against targeting Americans abroad. He wrote: “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 attack near Palmyra marked the first US military casualties in Syria since the fall of the country’s former leader Bashar Assad last year. The United States currently has about 1,000 troops stationed in Syria, a figure that has declined in recent years.
Trump has defended maintaining a US troop presence in Syria, saying they are there to keep “peace in the Middle East, and Syria is a big part of it.” He also praised Syria’s new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, and said his government had no involvement in the December attack.
“This is a rough part of the world, and it’s amazing what’s taken place in Syria,” Trump said earlier this week. He added: “We have legitimate peace in the Middle East, first time in 3,000 years.”
Source: The Hill.
