U.S. Launches 10 Airstrikes on More Than 30 ISIS Targets in Syria, Retaliating for Ambush That Killed Two or Three U.S. Personnel

U.S. Central Command said American forces conducted a concentrated series of strikes in Syria in early February under the banner of Operation Hawkeye Strike, carrying out 10 separate operations from Feb. 3–12 that hit more than 30 Islamic State infrastructure and weapons-storage sites.

“Operation Hawkeye has killed and captured more than 50 ISIL fighters after hitting about 100 targets”

Al Jazeera

CENTCOM and multiple outlets framed the sorties as part of a broader campaign over recent weeks to degrade IS capabilities across Syria and Iraq.

Al Jazeera

The New Region summarized the U.S. account as strikes that used fixed-wing, rotary-wing and unmanned aircraft and precision munitions.

Outlets such as The Guardian and Task & Purpose reported the 10 strikes and the more-than-30-targets figure directly as CENTCOM described it.

Reports differ across outlets about the operational scale and munitions used.

The New York Post described a larger, high‑tempo strike package, saying it 'hit at least 35 locations using 20 aircraft and more than 90 precision munitions'.

Devdiscourse

Other outlets, following CENTCOM briefings, described 10 strikes on 'more than 30 sites' or 'more than 30 Islamic State targets'.

This represents a contradiction between the New York Post's larger account and outlets that followed CENTCOM briefings.

Several sources (Task & Purpose, Devdiscourse, The Guardian) said the strikes focused on Islamic State infrastructure and weapons storage.

The New Region and The Jerusalem Post noted the use of fixed‑wing, rotary‑wing and unmanned aircraft.

CENTCOM and many outlets reported the campaign over recent weeks has 'killed or captured more than 50 ISIS fighters' and struck 'over 100' IS infrastructure targets across Iraq and Syria.

Coverage presented the February strikes as part of a sustained pressure campaign.

News coverage also linked earlier U.S. actions in January, including the killing of an alleged Al‑Qaeda operative, to the wider effort to hold militants to account.

Sources including The New Arab, globalgovernancenews and Media Line repeated CENTCOM figures about 'more than 50 IS fighters' and 'over 100 infrastructure targets'.

Outlets are inconsistent about how many U.S. personnel were killed in the December attack that prompted Operation Hawkeye Strike.

Several CENTCOM-based reports and regionally focused outlets tie the retaliation to a Dec. 13 ambush near Palmyra.

Houston Public Media

The Guardian and globalgovernancenews say the ambush "killed two US soldiers and an interpreter."

The New York Post and SSBCrack describe the incident as having "killed three Americans, including two U.S. soldiers."

The New Region also referred to "three U.S. citizens."

Those differing counts are explicit in the sources rather than one source quoting another, so the sources contradict each other on the number killed.

The U.S. completed transfers of more than about 5,700 detained ISIS suspects from Syrian custody to Iraq.

The U.S. also carried out base consolidations, including an "orderly departure" from the al‑Tanf garrison.

Israel National News

Sources differ on emphasis: SSBCrack framed transfer completion as a security‑enhancing measure while noting detainee affiliations were "unclear."

Media Line and The New Region stressed that detainees came from Kurdish‑run prisons and numbered more than 5,700, with Media Line adding they were "from 61 countries."

Washington Examiner and Task & Purpose noted concurrent U.S. withdrawals from forward positions.

CENTCOM, by contrast, stressed ongoing strike capabilities.