U.S. launches new retaliatory strikes against ISIS in Syria after deadly ambush

This photo provided by the U.S. Air Force shows a U.S. Airman preparing an A-10 Thunderbolt II for flight from a base in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in support of Operation Hawkeye Strike. (U.S. Air Force/DVIDS via AP)

WASHINGTON — The U.S. has launched another round of retaliatory strikes against the Islamic State group in Syria following last month’s ambush that killed two U.S. soldiers and one American civilian interpreter in the country.

The large-scale strikes, conducted by the U.S. alongside partner forces, occurred around 12:30 p.m. ET (1730 GMT) Saturday, according to the U.S. Central Command. The strikes hit multiple IS targets across Syria.

The Jordanian military later announced it had taken part in the strikes.

Saturday’s strikes are part of a broader operation that is part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s response to the deadly IS attack that killed Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, and Ayad Mansoor Sakat, the civilian interpreter, in Palmyra last month.

“Our message remains strong: if you harm our warfighters, we will find you and kill you anywhere in the world, no matter how hard you try to evade justice,” U.S. Central Command said in a statement Saturday.

A day earlier, Syrian officials said their security forces had arrested the military leader of IS operations in the Levant.

The U.S. military said Saturday’s strikes were carried out alongside partner forces without specifying which forces had taken part.

The Trump administration is calling the response to the Palmyra attacks Operation Hawkeye Strike. Both Torres-Tovar and Howard were members of the Iowa National Guard.

It launched Dec. 19 with another large-scale strike that hit 70 targets across central Syria that had IS infrastructure and weapons.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces has for years been the U.S.’s main partner in the fight against IS in Syria, but since the ouster of former Syrian President Bashar Assad in December 2024, Washington has increasingly been coordinating with the central government in Damascus.

Syria recently joined the global coalition against the IS.

The Associated Press