The United States carried out strikes in Syria overnight from Friday to Saturday targeting “more than 70 targets” of Daesh. Washington made it clear that they were retaliation in response to an attack that cost the lives of three Americans on December 13.
Donald Trump had promised a “response” from the United States after an attack in Syria which cost the lives of two American soldiers and an American translator last Sunday. It finally intervened on the night of Friday December 19 to Saturday December 20 and targeted “more than 70 targets in multiple locations in central Syria”, as indicated by Centcom, the American military command for the Middle East.
“We are striking very hard against ISIS strongholds,” the American president wrote on Truth Social after the Pentagon announced the start of a “massive” operation.
• At least five Daesh members killed
According to Centcom, the operation involved fighter jets, helicopters and artillery and “more than 100 precision munitions” were used against Daesh positions. The goal displayed by Washington? “Eliminate Islamic State group fighters, infrastructure and weapons sites,” said US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
These strikes were carried out in the desert near the city of Homs and in rural areas near Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa, a Syrian security source told AFP. The explosions were followed by “bursts of medium-caliber gunfire in the desert” southwest of Raqqa, added a provincial official, specifying that these were areas under the control of the Syrian government.
According to an initial assessment drawn up by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), at least five members of the Islamic State group were killed in strikes in the province of Deir ez-Zor. Among them is “the head of a cell” responsible for drones in the area, the head of the NGO, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP.
• “A direct response” to the attack of December 13
The Trump administration has been clear on the reasons for these strikes: it is a “direct response” targeting the Islamic State organization after the attack which left three Americans dead, two soldiers and a translator, in the Palmyra region on December 13.
“This is not the start of a war – this is a declaration of revenge,” Pete Hegseth assured on social media. “The United States of America, led by President Trump, will never hesitate or relent in our efforts to defend our people.”
“Today we hunted down and killed enemies. Many enemies. And we will continue,” he further assured.
Attributed to Daesh by Washington, the attack of December 13 was not formally claimed by the group. It was carried out, according to the Syrian authorities, by a member of the security forces whom they had planned to dismiss because of his “extremist Islamist ideas”.
• Damascus “committed to fighting” Daesh
Defeated in 2019 by an international coalition in Syria, the Islamic State group has continued sporadically to carry out attacks against local security forces since the Islamist coalition of President Ahmed al-Charaa took power.
Since December 13, Daesh has claimed responsibility for two attacks, one of which cost the lives of four Syrian soldiers in the province of Idlib. In its statements, the organization described members of the government and the army of al-Sharaa as “apostates”, underlines the Associated Press.
After last weekend’s attack, Donald Trump claimed that Syria was fighting alongside US troops and that Ahmed al-Charaa, who joined the international anti-jihadist coalition during his visit to Washington last month, was “extremely angry and disturbed” by the event.
In a statement published on
