United States forces have carried out a major operation against the extremist group, the Islamic State (IS) in Syria, an operation that US President Donald Trump described as "very serious retaliation" for the attack that killed three Americans, two soldiers and a civilian.
Washington has said an IS attacker carried out the December 13 attack in Palmyra, which also wounded three US soldiers.
"US forces have conducted airstrikes in Syria to eliminate IS fighters, infrastructure and weapons depots in direct response to the attack on US forces that occurred on December 13 in Palmyra, Syria," US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said in a tweet.
"This is not the beginning of a war, it is a declaration of revenge," he wrote, adding that "today we pursued and killed our enemies. Many of them, and we will continue."
Trump wrote on his Truth Social network that US forces are "taking very serious revenge, as I promised, on the murderous terrorists who are responsible," and that those who attack Americans "WILL BE HIT HARDER THAN EVER BEFORE."
US Central Command announced that US forces have "launched a large-scale strike against IS infrastructure and weapons facilities in Syria".
Central Command also said that "over 70 targets in multiple locations in Syria" were hit.
On Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told AFP that at least five IS members, including the leader of a cell, were killed in overnight US strikes.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry, although it did not directly comment on the US attack, said in X that the state is committed to the fight against IS, "to ensure that there is no safe haven on Syrian territory."
The Americans killed in the attack in Palmyra last weekend were Iowa National Guard sergeants William Howard and Edgar Torres Tovar, as well as Ayad Mansoor Sakat, a civilian from Michigan who was working as a translator.
The attack in Palmyra was the first incident of its kind since the overthrow of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad in December last year, and Syrian Interior Ministry spokesman Noureddine al-Baba said the attacker was a member of the security forces who was expected to be dismissed because of his "extremist Islamist ideas."
In 2014, IS seized large swaths of Syrian and Iraqi territory. American personnel were targeted in the attacks, as they supported international efforts to defeat IS.
IS has been defeated, but continues to have a presence in Syria.
*Note: US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in September 2025, changing the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War, as a second name. (REL)
