‘Declaration of vengeance’: US launches ‘Op Hawkeye Strike’, hits dozens of ISIS targets in Syria after deadly attack

The United States on Friday carried out airstrikes against dozens of Islamic State (IS) targets across central Syria, retaliating for a recent attack that killed US military personnel, officials said.

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that the strikes, conducted under Operation Hawkeye Strike, targeted “ISIS fighters, infrastructure, and weapons sites,” warning that further military action could follow.

“This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance,” Hegseth said in a statement and on social media. “Today, we hunted, and we killed our enemies. Lots of them. And we will continue.”

Two US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the operation hit dozens of IS positions across central Syria. Another official told The Associated Press that the strikes involved F-15 Eagle fighter jets, A-10 Thunderbolt ground-attack aircraft and AH-64 Apache helicopters, adding that additional strikes were expected. The Pentagon declined to share further operational details, referring queries to Hegseth’s statement.

The airstrikes come days after a deadly attack last weekend in the Syrian desert near Palmyra, where two US Army soldiers and a US civilian interpreter were killed, and three other US soldiers were wounded. According to the US military, the attacker targeted a convoy of American and Syrian forces before being shot dead.

The US Army later identified the fallen soldiers as Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, both members of the Iowa National Guard. The civilian interpreter killed in the attack was Ayad Mansoor Sakat, of Macomb, Michigan.

Syria’s Interior Ministry has said the attacker was a member of the country’s security forces who was suspected of sympathising with the Islamic State.

Following the attack, President Donald Trump vowed “very serious retaliation,” while emphasising that Syrian forces were fighting alongside US troops. White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said the airstrikes fulfilled that pledge.

“President Trump told the world that the United States would retaliate for the killing of our heroes by ISIS in Syria, and he is delivering on that promise,” she said.