U.S. Launches Major Airstrikes on ISIS After Deadly Attack Kills American Troops
The United States carried out large-scale airstrikes against ISIS targets in Syria on Friday, following the killing of two American soldiers and a U.S. interpreter in a terrorist attack last week.
President Donald Trump ordered the strikes after pledging swift retaliation for the deaths of Iowa National Guard Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, and interpreter Ayad Mansoor Sakat of Michigan.
The three were killed on December 13 while conducting a key leader engagement mission in Palmyra, Syria, as part of ongoing counterterrorism operations.
According to U.S. defense officials, American forces used more than 100 precision-guided munitions to strike over 70 suspected ISIS targets across multiple locations near the ancient city of Palmyra. The operation, named Operation Hawkeye Storm in honor of Iowa — the Hawkeye State — marked one of the most significant U.S. military responses against ISIS in recent months.
War Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed the strikes in a statement posted to social media, describing the mission as a direct response to the attack on U.S. personnel.
“Earlier today, U.S. forces commenced OPERATION HAWKEYE STRIKE in Syria to eliminate ISIS fighters, infrastructure, and weapons sites,” Hegseth wrote. “This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance.”
Hegseth emphasized that the United States would not hesitate to use lethal force against anyone who targets Americans, warning that those responsible would be hunted down.
President Trump echoed that message in a statement on Truth Social, saying the U.S. was delivering on its promise to retaliate.
“Because of ISIS’s vicious killing of brave American Patriots in Syria, whose beautiful souls I welcomed home to American soil earlier this week, I am hereby announcing that the United States is inflicting very serious retaliation,” Trump wrote.
