The U.S. military conducted a punishing series of airstrikes against the Islamic State group on Dec. 8, following the sudden demise of the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.
U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress bombers, F-15E Strike Eagles, and A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft conducted dozens of airstrikes against Islamic State leaders, fighters, and camps in central Syria, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced. The aircraft dropped about 140 munitions on more than 75 targets belonging to the militant group, a senior administration official told reporters.
The strikes came as the U.S. is trying to prevent ISIS militants from exploiting the chaotic situation in Syria after Assad fled the country and rebels led by the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham took over Damascus 13 years into the Syrian civil war.
“At the president’s authorization, we targeted a significant gathering of ISIS fighters and leaders,” the official said.
The Pentagon said the attacks were precision airstrikes and it does not believe there were any civilian casualties. The U.S. military is still conducting a battle damage assessment, according to U.S. Central Command.
A U.S.-led coalition and their local allies dismantled the Islamic State’s self-declared caliphate in Iraq and Syria in 2019 as part of the ongoing Operation Inherent Resolve. But the U.S. still has about 900 troops in eastern Syria who have been working with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces that are battling the remnants of the Islamic State as it has sought to make a comeback.
“CENTCOM, together with allies and partners in the region, will continue to carry out operations to degrade ISIS operational capabilities even during this dynamic period in Syria,” the command stated.
CENTCOM commander Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla issued a pointed warning to Syrian groups that they should avoid helping ISIS as the country struggles to form a new government after Assad’s departure.
“There should be no doubt—we will not allow ISIS to reconstitute and take advantage of the current situation in Syria,” Kurilla said in a statement. “All organizations in Syria should know that we will hold them accountable if they partner with or support ISIS in any way.”
The fall of the Assad regime less than two weeks after the start of a rebel offensive came as a shock to American and many Middle Eastern officials. It followed the battering that Lebanese militia Hezbollah, an Assad ally, took at the hands of the Israeli military.
Assad’s support from the Russian air force also waned as Moscow became increasingly preoccupied with its invasion of Ukraine. Iran, another backer of Assad, was also weakened by Israeli airstrikes in Syria and inside Iran.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. But it broke with Al Qaeda in 2016 and has targeted ISIS elements in the territory it has controlled, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Today, the group casts itself as a nationalist organization that was committed to unseating Assad and building a new Syria.
With the collapse of the Assad regime, Washington is also trying to head off fresh conflicts between Turkish-backed militias and the Syrian Democratic Forces that could hamper operations to fight the Islamic State. In a call with his Turkish counterpart on Dec. 8, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III “reaffirmed the importance of avoiding actions that could present a risk to U.S. forces and partners, and the defeat-ISIS mission,” the Pentagon said.