U.S. Officials: "Strikes to Continue Through Morning of the 20th"
Pete Hegseth, U.S. Secretary of Defense, announced on the 19th (local time) through X (formerly Twitter) that the 'Hawkeye Airstrike Operation' targeting the Islamic extremist group Islamic State (IS) has begun. Secretary Hegseth X
On December 19 (local time), the United States carried out a large-scale airstrike targeting the Islamic extremist group Islamic State (IS) in Syria. This action was part of a "retaliatory measure" following the deaths of U.S. soldiers in an airstrike in Syria over the previous weekend.
Pete Hegseth, U.S. Secretary of Defense, announced on his X account (formerly Twitter) that "the U.S. military has launched the 'Hawkeye Airstrike Operation' to eliminate ISIS (the term used by the U.S. military for the Islamic State) fighters, infrastructure, and weapons facilities in direct response to the attack on U.S. forces that occurred in Palmyra, Syria on the 13th."
Secretary Hegseth stated, "This is not the start of a war, but a declaration of vengeance," adding, "Under the leadership of President Donald Trump, the United States will never hesitate or back down when it comes to protecting our people." He further emphasized, "Today, we hunted down our enemies and killed them. We killed many. And we will continue."
President Trump also posted on his Truth Social account the same day, declaring, "As I promised, the United States is carrying out very serious retaliation against the murderous terrorists responsible for the killing of our troops," and added, "We are striking ISIS strongholds in Syria with great force."
President Trump went on to warn, "To every terrorist evil enough to attack Americans, know this: if you attack or threaten the United States in any way, you will be hit harder than ever before."
Regarding the U.S. military's retaliatory strike, The New York Times, citing anonymous U.S. officials, reported that the military struck dozens of locations believed to be IS strongholds in central Syria, including weapons storage areas and operational support buildings, using fighter jets, attack helicopters, and artillery fire. The official stated that the U.S. airstrikes and artillery attacks were expected to continue into the early morning of December 20, local Syrian time.
This attack was carried out after U.S. soldiers were killed in a Syrian airstrike. On December 13, in Palmyra, central Syria, U.S. troops and Syrian government forces conducting field reconnaissance were suddenly attacked, resulting in the deaths of three people: William Howard Hasa and Edgar Torres-Tova Hasa of the Iowa National Guard, and Ayad Mansour Sakat, an American interpreter.
On December 17, President Trump attended a repatriation ceremony for the fallen at a Delaware Air Force base, observing the honor guard carrying the caskets containing the remains.
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