United States forces have carried out extensive air and ground strikes against the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria, hitting more than 70 targets in what President Donald Trump described as “very serious retaliation” for a deadly attack that killed three Americans last weekend.
Washington said the December 13 attack in Palmyra, a city known for its UNESCO-listed ancient ruins, was carried out by a lone IS gunman. The assault claimed the lives of two US soldiers and a civilian contractor supporting American operations in Syria.
In response, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said American forces struck over 70 IS targets across central Syria, deploying fighter jets, attack helicopters, and artillery.
“The operation employed more than 100 precision munitions targeting known ISIS infrastructure and weapons sites,” CENTCOM said in a statement.
President Trump, writing on his Truth Social platform, said the United States was delivering on its promise to respond forcefully.
“We are inflicting very serious retaliation, just as I promised, on the murderous terrorists responsible,” Trump said, warning that those who attack Americans “will be hit harder than you have ever been hit before.”
CENTCOM added that since the Palmyra attack, US and allied forces have conducted 10 counterterrorism operations in Syria and Iraq, resulting in the deaths or detention of 23 militant operatives, though it did not specify their affiliations.
‘No Safe Havens’
While Syria’s foreign ministry did not directly comment on Friday’s US strikes, it reiterated in a statement on X that Damascus remains committed to combating IS and ensuring the group has “no safe havens on Syrian territory,” vowing to intensify military operations wherever the group poses a threat.
The Americans killed in the Palmyra attack were identified as Iowa National Guard Sergeants William Howard and Edgar Torres Tovar, and Ayad Mansoor Sakat, a Michigan-based civilian who worked as an interpreter.
Senior US officials, including President Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and top military officer General Dan Caine, attended a solemn ceremony on Wednesday marking the return of the fallen to the United States.
The attack marked the first deadly assault on US forces in Syria since the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December last year.
Syrian Interior Ministry spokesman Noureddine al-Baba said the attacker was a member of the security forces who had been slated for dismissal due to his “extremist Islamist ideas.”
The targeted US personnel were supporting Operation Inherent Resolve, the international coalition formed to defeat IS after the group seized large areas of Syria and Iraq in 2014. While IS was eventually defeated by local ground forces backed by international air power, it continues to maintain a presence in parts of Syria, particularly in the country’s vast desert regions.
President Trump has long questioned the scale of America’s military footprint in Syria. Although he ordered troop withdrawals during his first term, US forces have remained.
The Pentagon announced in April that the United States would cut its troop levels in Syria by half, while US envoy Tom Barrack said in June that American bases would eventually be reduced to one.
US troops are currently stationed in Syria’s Kurdish-controlled northeast and at Al-Tanf, near the Jordanian border.
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