U.S. Central Command and allied forces carried out dozens of retaliatory aerial strikes on ISIS targets in Syria on Saturday. Photo Courtesy of U.S. Central Command
Jan. 10 (UPI) — The U.S. military and allied forces carried out “large-scale” retaliatory strikes on ISIS targets in Syria as part of the military’s ongoing Operation Hawkeye Strike campaign.
The aerial strikes were carried out against multiple targets at 12:30 p.m. EST on Saturday, U.S. Central Command said in a news release.
“The strikes today targeted ISIS throughout Syria as part of our ongoing commitment to root out Islamic terrorism against our warfighters, prevent future attacks and protect American and partner forces in the region,” CentCom officials said.
“U.S. and coalition forces remain resolute in pursuing terrorists who seek to harm the United States,” they added. “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.”
More than 90 precision munitions carried by more than 24 aircraft were used to strike more than 35 targets throughout Syria, CNN reported.
CentCom launched Operation Hawkeye on Dec. 19 in retaliation for the ISIS attack on U.S. and Syrian forces in Palmyra, Syria, on Dec. 13.
The attack killed two Iowa National Guard members and their U.S. civilian interpreter, and Operation Hawkeye Strike is named after the nickname of the soldiers’ home state of Iowa.
Iowa residents Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, were part of an 1,800-member troop deployment to Syria when they were ambushed and killed.
Also killed was interpreter Ayad Mansoor Sakat, 54, of Macomb Township, Mich., and three other soldiers were wounded.
The U.S. military has hundreds of personnel deployed in Syria amid an effort to eradicate ISIS there.