US attacks suspected IS targets in Syria

TT

Published 2025-12-19 23.44

 

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on site when the remains of three killed Americans were received at Dover Air Force Base in the US. Photo: Evan Vucci/AP/TT

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announces that efforts have been initiated to "eliminate" the terrorist-labeled IS movement in Syria.

The attack comes after three Americans were killed in Syria.

The US attacks target suspected IS members, infrastructure and weapons depots believed to belong to the terrorist movement, Pentagon chief Hegseth – whose title according to the Trump administration is Secretary of War – announced late on Friday.

Three American citizens, two military personnel and a civilian interpreter, were killed in an attack on American forces on December 13. Immediately after the attack, US President Donald Trump said that the United States would retaliate for the attacks.

The direct targets of the attacks in Syria were not stated in Hegseth's statement on X.

According to the Pentagon, the suspected IS attack in Syria took place in Palmyra, where the Americans were part of a delegation together with Syrian security forces with the aim of meeting local decision-makers and countering terrorism.