U.S. launches strikes in Syria targeting Islamic State fighters : NPR

WASHINGTON – The Trump administration on Friday launched military strikes in Syria to “destroy” Islamic State group militants and weapons facilities in response to an ambush that killed two American soldiers and an American civilian translator nearly a week ago.

A US official described it as a “large-scale” strike that hit 70 targets in areas of central Syria where IS infrastructure and weapons were located. Another US official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss covert operations, said more strikes were to be expected.

“This is not the beginning of a war, this is a declaration of revenge. The United States of America, under the leadership of President Trump, will never waver and will never retreat to protect our people,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on social media.

The new military operation in Syria comes even as the Trump administration said it intends to focus closer to home in the Western Hemisphere, ramping up an armada in the Caribbean to target suspected drug-smuggling vessels and vowing to continue seizing sanctioned oil tankers as part of a pressure campaign against Venezuela's leader. The US has transferred significant resources from the Middle East to achieve these goals, with its most advanced aircraft carrier arriving in South American waters last month from the Mediterranean.

Trump promised retribution

President Donald Trump has promised “very serious retaliation” following a shooting in the Syrian desert that he blamed on Islamic State. The dead were among hundreds of American troops stationed in eastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting the militant group.

During a speech in North Carolina on Friday night, the president called the operation a “massive strike” that destroyed “ISIS thugs in Syria who were trying to regroup.”

In an earlier social media post, he reiterated his support for Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who Trump said is “fully supportive” of the U.S. effort.

Trump also offered a threat in all caps, warning the Islamic State against repeated attacks on American personnel.

“All terrorists who are evil enough to attack Americans are hereby warned: YOU WILL BE FUCKED HARDER THAN YOU HAVE EVER BEEN BEFORE IF YOU ATTACK OR THREATEN THE USA IN ANY WAY,” the president added.

According to US officials, the attack was carried out using F-15 Eagle aircraft, A-10 Thunderbolt attack aircraft and AH-64 Apache helicopters. F-16 fighter jets from Jordan and HIMARS rocket artillery were also used, one of the officials added.

US Central Command, which oversees the region, said on social media that US planes, helicopters and artillery fired more than 100 precision-guided munitions at Syrian targets.

How Syria reacted

The attack was a major test of the warming relations between the United States and Syria since the overthrow of autocratic leader Bashar al-Assad a year ago. Trump emphasized that Syria was fighting alongside U.S. forces and said al-Sharaa was “extremely angry and concerned about this attack,” which comes as the U.S. military increases cooperation with Syrian security forces.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry, in a statement on X after the start of the US strikes, said that last week's attack “underscores the urgent need to strengthen international cooperation in the fight against terrorism in all its forms” and that Syria is committed to “fighting ISIS and ensuring that it has no sanctuaries on Syrian soil, and will continue to intensify military operations against it wherever it poses a threat.”

Syrian state television said the US strikes hit targets in rural areas of Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa provinces, as well as in the Jebel al-Amur region near the historic city of Palmyra. The statement said they targeted “weapon storage sites and headquarters used by ISIS as launching points for its operations in the region.”

IS has not said it attacked US troops, but the group has since claimed responsibility for two attacks on Syrian security forces, one of which killed four Syrian soldiers in Idlib province. The group called al-Sharaa's government and army “apostates” in its statements. Although al-Sharaa once led an al-Qaeda-linked group, he had a long-standing feud with IS.

Americans who were killed

Trump met privately this week with the families of slain Americans at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, then joined top military officials and other dignitaries on the tarmac for a dignified handover, a solemn and largely silent ritual honoring American service members killed in action.

The Guardsmen killed in Syria last Saturday were Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown. Ayad Mansour Sakat of Macomb, Michigan, a US civilian who worked as a translator, was also killed.

The shooting near Palmyra wounded three more American troops, as well as members of the Syrian security forces, and killed a gunman. The attacker joined Syria's internal security forces as a base guard two months ago and was recently transferred to another position amid suspicions he may be linked to IS, interior ministry spokesman Nour al-Din al-Baba said.

A man burst into a meeting of US and Syrian security forces who were having lunch together and opened fire after a confrontation with Syrian guards.