Operation Hawkeye Strike: How Donald Trump is taking up ISIS in Syria once more | EUROtoday

Donald Trump has launched new strikes in Syria to drive out a resurgent Islamic State, after the fear group killed two American troopers and an interpreter final month.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) on Saturday confirmed the most recent strikes in opposition to ISIS in Syria, with one official saying two dozen plane had carried out 90 strikes on 35 targets.

CENTCOM shared grainy black and white footage of explosions and reiterated its dedication to “rooting out Islamic terrorism” and defending companions within the area.

Operation Hawkeye Strike, launched in December, has been developed in a brand new partnership with the Syrian authorities that displaced longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad little over a 12 months in the past.

The Independent seems at what Operation Hawkeye entails, and why it has occurred now.

What prompted the U.S. to behave?

The newest U.S. exercise in Syria started within the days after a deadly ISIS assault on American and Syrian forces in Palmyra.

According to the U.S. authorities, ISIS killed two American troopers and a handler on 13 December. Syria’s inside ministry mentioned the attacker was a police officer suspected of sympathising with Islamic State.

The victims have been recognized as Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres Tovar, 25, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29. Three different Iowa National Guard members have been wounded, officers mentioned.

Within every week, the U.S. had launched large strikes in opposition to dozens of ISIS targets together with the Jordanian air pressure. Secretary of protection Pete Hegseth mentioned coalition forces struck fighters, infrastructure, and weapons websites on 19 December, and named the operation ‘Hawkeye’.

How efficient have the strikes been?

One U.S. official mentioned Washington had used F-15s fighter jets, A-10 Warthogs, Apache helicopters and HIMARS rocket programs to hit ISIS cells within the December assault. A Syrian safety mentioned targets have been struck in Homs, Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa provinces. With solely round 1,000 troops left in Syria, the US didn’t perform any floor operations.

Five ISIS members have been killed, together with the pinnacle of a cell accountable for working drones within the space, in response to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Another Syrian official advised the AFP information company that the “intense” bombardment had lasted 5 hours.

Trump, who licensed the strikes, mentioned that they’d the complete assist of Syrian president Ahmed al Sharaa, who reached an settlement with Washington throughout a go to in November.

On 10 January, the U.S. carried out a second wave of strikes on targets throughout Syria with unnamed ‘partner forces’.

An unnamed US official advised CNN that the operation launched 90 precision munitions at greater than 35 targets, utilizing over two dozen plane. It is just not but clear if there have been any casualties.

CENTCOM mentioned: “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.”

Trump’s shifting place on Syria

A fragile amnesty for the Syrian authorities has allowed the U.S. to scale up its work to oust ISIS. But after the autumn of Assad, it was unclear whether or not Washington would stick round to complete off the group.

The U.S. had spent 10 years within the nation preventing ISIS beneath ‘Operation Inherent Resolve’ by 2024. By 2019, the fear group was exhausted and had misplaced all its main positions in Syria. The group moved underground whereas factions continued lethal assaults on civilians overseas and plotted assaults in Europe.

When al Sharaa’s HTS swept into Damascus in November 2024, then president-elect Trump opposed the Biden administration’s use of precision airstrikes in opposition to ISIS camps in Syria.

He mentioned the U.S. “should have nothing to do with” the nation and added: “This is not our fight. Let it play out. Do not get involved. Syria is a mess, but it is not our friend”.

Over the final 12 months, the president has lifted sanctions on Syria and vowed to crush a resurgent Islamic State, whether or not within the Middle East or elsewhere.