CENTCOM forces launched fighter jets, attack helicopters and other assets to conduct a large-scale strike in Syria, Dec. 19, 2025. @CENTCOM/X
The U.S. military launched retaliatory strikes on Friday against dozens of ISIS targets in Syria, according to a statement issued by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on social media.
More than 70 ISIS targets were struck in Friday’s attacks and 100 munitions were used by a mix of fighter jets, attack helicopters and rocket artillery fire, according to U.S. Central Command
Hegseth said “Operation Hawkeye Strike” was carried out in Syria “to eliminate ISIS fighters, infrastructure, and weapons sites in direct response to the attack on U.S. forces that occurred on Dec. 13 in Palmyra, Syria.
U.S. Central Command also confirmed in a statement that Jordanian fighter aircraft also participated in Friday’s strikes.
“This is not the beginning of a war — It is a declaration of vengeance,” said Hegseth. “The United States of America, under President Trump’s leadership, will never hesitate and never relent to defend our people.”
The strikes in Syria are in retaliation for the deaths on Saturday of three Americans in Palmyra, Syria, by what CENTCOM said was a member of the Syrian Syrian security forces , identified as a lone ISIS gunman who was later killed.
President Donald Trump said the strikes were “inflicting very serious retaliation, just as I promised, on the murderous terrorists responsible” for the attack.
Trump added that the strikes were happening “against ISIS strongholds in Syria” and that Syria’s new government is “is fully in support.”
Reports from inside Syria, including the monitoring agency the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reported that explosions had been heard in areas of the country.
The three fatalities in Saturday’s attack in Palmyra included two Iowa National Guardsmen and a U.S. civilian interpreter. Three other Iowa National Guardsmen were injured in the attack.
Friday’s large-scale retaliatory strikes involved F-15 and A-10 fighter jets, Apache attack helicopters and the use of HIMARS rocket artillery, according to a U.S. official, who said they had struck 70 targets, including “ISIS weapon areas and infrastructure in central Syria.”
The official added that the retaliatory strikes were intended to deliver “a significant blow” to ISIS remnant forces in Syria, their infrastructure and to eliminate ISIS weapons areas.
According to the latest U.S. intelligence estimate, there are still between 1,500 to 3,000 ISIS militants still operating in Syria and Iraq.
Ahead of Friday’s strikes, the official said that U.S. partners led 10 operations in Iraq and Syria, with U.S. military support, that captured or killed 23 ISIS militants. The raids also helped glean intelligence that informed future targeting operations said the official.
There are currently 1,000 U.S. troops in Syria, the bulk of them located in eastern Syria, with the continuing mission prevent a resurgence of ISIS which was defeated militarily in 2019.
Between 100 to 150 of the U.S. troops in Syria are based at At Tanq Garrison, a remote outpost located on Syria’s border with Jordan. The Iowa National Guardsmen targeted in Saturday’s attack were based at that outpost, which was visited on Friday by Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of U.S. Central Command, according to a source familiar with the visit.
The Iowa National Guardsmen targeted in Saturday’s attack were based at that outpost, which was visited on Friday by Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of U.S. Central Command, according to a source familiar with the visit.
Cooper recognized the troops there for their actions under fire and also discussed the strikes that were to take place on Friday.
Sgt. William “Nate” Howard, Sgt. Edgar Torres Tovar, and their U.S. civilian interpreter, Ayad Mansoor Sakat, were killed in an ambush by a lone ISIS gunman on Saturday as they were carrying out a key leader engagement, according to a CENTCOM statement.
They were the first U.S. military combat deaths in Syria since 2019.
In the wake of Saturday’s ambush, U.S. Central Command provided information of the frequency of anti-ISIS operations in Syria noting that since July the U.S. and its partner forces had carried out 80 operations against ISIS targets and detained 119 ISIS militants and killed 14.
In November alone, U.S. and Syrian forces jointly destroyed 15 ISIS weapons caches in southern Syria, it said.
ABC