The United States carried out an extensive wave of military strikes across Syria on Friday, hitting dozens of Islamic State-linked sites in response to a deadly assault on American personnel, according to US officials.
US Central Command said the operation struck more than 70 locations across central Syria, with Jordanian fighter jets assisting in the mission. A US official said the attacks involved F-15 and A-10 aircraft, Apache helicopters, and HIMARS rocket systems.
The strikes followed an attack last weekend in which two US Army soldiers and a civilian interpreter were killed in the central Syrian city of Palmyra. According to the US military, the assailant targeted a convoy of American and Syrian forces before being shot and killed. Three additional US soldiers were wounded.
The Syrian Interior Ministry later identified the attacker as a member of Syria's security forces who was suspected of sympathizing with Islamic State.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the operation focused on "ISIS fighters, infrastructure, and weapons sites" and confirmed that the mission was designated "OPERATION HAWKEYE STRIKE."
"This is not the beginning of a war -- it is a declaration of vengeance," Hegseth said. "Today, we hunted and we killed our enemies. Lots of them. And we will continue," he added.
President Donald Trump said in a social media post that the Syrian government fully backed the US action and described the response as "very serious retaliation."
Speaking later Friday night at a rally in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, Trump characterized the strikes as a significant blow against those responsible for the December 13 attack on coalition forces. "We hit the ISIS thugs in Syria. ... It was very successful," Trump said.
A US-led coalition has intensified air and ground operations against Islamic State suspects in Syria in recent months, frequently coordinating with Syrian security forces as part of a broader effort to prevent the group from regrouping.
Jordan's military confirmed its involvement, with state-owned television reporting Saturday that Jordanian aircraft struck Islamic State-affiliated sites in southern Syria as part of Amman's cooperation with the coalition.
Syria's Foreign Ministry said the government remains committed to fighting Islamic State and ensuring that the group has "no safe havens on Syrian territory."
Roughly 1,000 US troops are currently deployed in Syria.
Syria's current leadership emerged from former rebel factions that overthrew Bashar al-Assad last year after a 13-year civil war. The government includes figures linked to Syria's former al-Qaeda branch, which later broke away and fought Islamic State.
Damascus has continued to cooperate with the US-led coalition against ISIS, formalizing that coordination last month during a visit to the White House by Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa.