The US and its partner forces have launched “large-scale” airstrikes against Islamic State terrorists in Syria.US Central Command confirmed the strikes took place at 5.30pm today.US President Donald Trump directed the strikes as part of his retaliatory Operation Hawkeye Strike. The first strikes took place in Syria little less than a month ago, following a deadly attack by Isis terrorists.
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Isis killed two American soldiers and one US civilian interpreter in an ambush attack on December 13. The US President vowed to “retaliate” towards the end of last year.In a new statement, US Central Command said: “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.”Sharing the statement, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said: “We will never forget, and never relent.”The US and its partner forces fired more than 90 precision munitions at over 35 targets in an operation that involved more than 20 aircraft.F-15Es, A-10s, AC-130Js, MQ-9s and Jordanian F-16s took part in today’s operation. However, the location of the strikes and the extent of any casualties remains unclear. Before today’s strikes, American forces captured or killed nearly 25 Isis group members in 11 missions between December 20 and December 29.LATEST DEVELOPMENTSRussia sends submarine to stop Donald Trump seizing runaway tanker as major Atlantic clash loomsDonald Trump issues stark warning to Venezuela’s interim leader as Nicolas Maduro due in court todayDonald Trump brands Venezuelans in US as ‘extremely happy’ and says ‘they won’t suffer anymore’Today’s strikes also came just days after UK jets joined French aircraft in conducting their own attack on an underground arms cache in Syria.”Our aircraft used Paveway IV guided bombs to target a number of access tunnels down to the facility… initial indications are that the target was engaged successfully,” the Ministry of Defence said.Defence Secretary John Healey added: “This action shows our UK leadership, and determination to stand shoulder to shoulder with our allies, to stamp out any resurgence of Daesh and their dangerous and violent ideologies in the Middle East.”Recent attacks by UK forces have been carried out after the Royal Air Force made a number of patrols to “prevent any attempted resurgence” of Isis following its defeat at the battle of Baghuz in 2019.However, Isis is still said to have up to 3,000 fighters in Syria and Iraq.Authorities in neighbouring Turkey arrested dozens of suspected Isis terrorists shortly before New Year’s Eve amid reports of an orchestrated attack against Christians and Jews in a so-called “Season of Terror”. Meanwhile, President Trump has targeted Isis fighters in Nigeria after accusing “terrorist scum” of slaughtering innocent Christians. Announcing the military action on Christmas Day, Mr Trump said: “Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against Isis terrorist scum in north west Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even centuries.”Following his return to the White House, Mr Trump has sanctioned other operations in the Middle East and Latin America. The US carried out a major bombing operation against three Iranian nuclear facilities in June 2025.Mr Trump later sanctioned the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro on January 3.Following his capture, Mr Trump said: “A lot of good planning and a lot of great, great troops and people. It was a brilliant operation, actually.”
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