As tensions continue to rise in the Middle East and the battle to extinguish ISIS continues, the U.S. Central Command announced Saturday that our forces struck 30 sites in Syria in February, wiping out at least 50 terrorists.
Meanwhile, as our Ben Smith reported Friday, President Trump is sending a second battle carrier strike group, the USS Gerald R. Ford, to the region to join the USS Abraham Lincoln as protests in Iran rage and negotiations with the U.S. remain fragile, at best.
In a statement Saturday, CENTCOM said the Syria strikes were part of their strategy to maintain “relentless military pressure on remnants from the terrorist network":
U.S. forces struck ISIS infrastructure and weapons storage targets with precision munitions delivered by fixed-wing, rotary-wing, and unmanned aircraft.
CENTCOM forces previously conducted five strikes against an ISIS communication site, critical logistics node, and weapons storage facilities, Jan. 27 – Feb. 2.
Operation Hawkeye Strike was launched in response to a Dec. 13 attack on U.S. and Syrian forces in Palmyra. The ISIS ambush resulted in the death of two U.S. service members and an American interpreter.
In addition to the 50 terrorists whom they removed from the earth, they also hit over 100 infrastructure targets with hundreds of “precision munitions,” they wrote.
Following the five strikes carried out earlier in late January and early February, Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of CENTCOM, said in a statement:
"Striking these targets demonstrates our continued focus and resolve for preventing an ISIS resurgence in Syria,"
"Operating in coordination with coalition and partner forces to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS makes America, the region and the world safer," he added.
There's plenty of military action going on in the Middle East:
As RedState reported, the strikes are in retaliation for an ISIS ambush in December that left two U.S. Army soldiers and a civilian interpreter dead. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said on social media at the time that those responsible would be held accountable:
Trump echoed the sentiment, saying:
All terrorists who are evil enough to attack Americans are hereby warned — YOU WILL BE HIT HARDER THAN YOU HAVE EVER BEEN HIT BEFORE IF YOU, IN ANY WAY, ATTACK OR THREATEN THE U.S.A.
Looks like we’re making good on those promises.