Washington, Dec.20 (SANA) The U.S. Department of War (Pentagon) announced that U.S. forces carried out strikes at dawn Saturday targeting dozens of ISIS terrorist sites in Syria, in response to its terrorist attack that targeted joint Syrian-American forces near Palmyra last Saturday.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates affirmed earlier Syria’s commitment to combating ISIS and ensuring that the organization has no safe havens on its territory, calling on the US and member states of the International Coalition to join in supporting Syria’s efforts against terrorism.
“Earlier today, U.S. forces commenced OPERATION HAWKEYE STRIKE in Syria to eliminate ISIS fighters, infrastructure, and weapons sites in direct response to the attack on U.S. forces that occurred on December 13th in Palmyra, Syria,” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said in a post on X platform.
“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,” he added.
Shortly after the Pentagon’s announcement, U.S. President Donald Trump described the operation in a post on his platform “Truth Social” as a “very harsh retaliatory response,” adding: “We are launching very strong strikes against ISIS strongholds in Syria”.
Trump added “We struck extremist ISIS elements in Syria who were trying to reorganize after their defeat,” adding the Government of Syria, led by a man who is working very hard to bring greatness back to Syria, and is fully in support”.
The U.S. president went on to say that he ordered a “large-scale strike” against the terrorist organization, describing it as “highly successful and precise; we hit every target with extreme accuracy, and we are restoring peace by force.”
The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) released details about the ISIS targets and the number of sites hit in the strike. In a statement, it explained that fighter jets, attack helicopters, and artillery struck more than 70 targets across central Syria, noting that “the operation employed over 100 types of precision munitions targeting infrastructure sites and weapons caches known to belong to the organization.”
CENTCOM also stated that U.S. and coalition forces “carried out 10 operations in Syria and Iraq, resulting in the killing or capture of 23 terrorist elements” following the Palmyra attack.
NJ/ Mazen
