Washington: The United States has carried out another round of retaliatory air strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria, following last month’s ambush that killed two US soldiers and an American civilian interpreter.
According to US Central Command, the large-scale strikes were conducted alongside partner forces at around 12.30 pm Eastern Time and targeted multiple Islamic State positions across Syria.
The latest operation forms part of President Donald Trump’s response to the ISIS attack in Palmyra last month, in which US Army Sergeants Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar and William Nathaniel Howard, along with civilian interpreter Ayad Mansoor Sakat, were killed.
“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,” US Central Command said in a statement on Saturday.
The administration has named the response to the Palmyra attack as Operation Hawkeye Strike. Both Torres-Tovar and Howard were members of the Iowa National Guard.
The operation began on December 19 with an earlier large-scale strike that hit 70 Islamic State targets across central Syria, including infrastructure and weapons facilities.
With PTI inputs