Washington targets ISIS sites in central Syria

US forces carried out large-scale night strikes targeting more than 70 ISIS sites in central Syria, in response to an earlier attack that killed two US soldiers and a civilian translator in the city of Palmyra.

The US Central Command confirmed that the operation, called “Saqr Eye,” used more than 100 precision munitions, targeting the organization’s infrastructure and weapons sites, with the support of Jordanian forces. US President Donald Trump said that the strikes represent severe retaliation against terrorists, while the US Secretary of Defense described the operation as “not the beginning of a war, but rather a declaration of revenge.”

The strikes resulted in the killing of at least five members of the organization, including the commander of the drone cell in Deir ez-Zor, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

In an official reaction, the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirmed its commitment to combating the organization, calling on the United States and member states of the international coalition to join Syria’s efforts to combat terrorism, expressing its condolences to the Syrian and American victims.