Washington, D.C. (11 January (H.S.): United States forces executed precision retaliatory strikes against Islamic State (ISIS) targets across Syria on Saturday, intensifying President Donald Trump's Operation Hawkeye Strike in response to a deadly ambush last month that claimed two American soldiers and a civilian interpreter.

Launched around 12:30 p.m. ET in coordination with regional partner forces, the large-scale operation demolished multiple ISIS infrastructure sites and weapons caches, as confirmed by U.S. Central Command.

The fatalities fueling this escalation—Sergeant Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar and Sergeant William Nathaniel Howard of the Iowa National Guard, alongside interpreter Ayad Mansoor Sakat—perished in an ISIS attack near Palmyra.

CENTCOM's statement reiterated a uncompromising stance: 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.Initiated December 19 with strikes on 70 targets, the campaign adapts to Syria's post-Bashar al-Assad landscape, where Damascus has joined the global anti-ISIS coalition and Syrian security arrested a key ISIS Levant commander Friday.

Historically reliant on Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, Washington now collaborates more closely with Syria's central authorities following Assad's December 2024 ouster.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar