A US-led coalition carried out further airstrikes on targets of the Islamic State group in Syria on Saturday. The attacks are part of Operation Hawkeye Strike, which Washington launched last month in retaliation for an attack on American soldiers.
The American Central Command announced this, reports Reuters. “Today’s attacks targeted ISIS across Syria,” CENTCOM said in a statement. It was not stated whether any deaths occurred.
The operation was launched in December after IS fighters killed American soldiers in Syria, according to the US. Two US soldiers and a civilian interpreter were reported killed in a December 13 incident near the city of Palmyra – the first deadly attack on US forces in Syria since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.
Image from a video published on X by the US Central Command on Saturday of attacks carried out earlier in the day by US and allied military personnel against Islamic State targets in Syria.
Photo US CENTCOM / Handout via AFP
There are still about a thousand American troops in Syria. The Syrian government is led by ex-rebels who overthrew Assad after a thirteen-year civil war. Syria is working with a US-led coalition against Islamic State.
Deadly battles
Meanwhile, the last Kurdish fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) left the city of Aleppo on Sunday, state broadcaster Ekhbariya TV reported. That departure was made possible by a ceasefire agreement after days of deadly fighting with Syrian government forces in the northern city.
The departure marks the withdrawal of Kurdish forces from parts of Aleppo they have controlled since the start of the Syrian war in 2011. Kurdish forces still control a semi-autonomous zone in large parts of northeastern Syria.
SDF commander Mazloum Abdi said in a message on
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Deaths in heavy fighting between Kurdish fighting group and Syrian government army in Aleppo
A journalist from the AP news agency saw buses leaving on Sunday and was told by officials that there were 360 fighters on board. Other buses carrying civilians and prisoners left Saturday.
The violence in Aleppo has deepened one of the main fault lines in Syria. President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s promise to unite the country after years of war is meeting resistance from Kurdish forces. They distrust his Islamist-led government.
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