U.S. Central Command announced Wednesday that it carried out five strikes against “multiple” Islamic State targets in recent days as part of a joint military effort to “ensure the enduring defeat of the terrorist network.”
CENTCOM said, from Jan. 27 to Feb. 2, its forces “located and destroyed an ISIS communication site, critical logistics node, and weapons storage facilities with 50 precision munitions delivered by fixed-wing, rotary-wing, and unmanned aircraft.”
“Striking these targets demonstrates our continued focus and resolve for preventing an ISIS resurgence in Syria,” Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of CENTCOM, said in a statement.
“Operating in coordination with coalition and partner forces to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS makes America, the region and the world safer.”
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CENTCOM said it launched the Operation Hawkeye Strike mission in response to a Dec. 13, 2025, ISIS “ambush” attack against U.S. and Syrian forces in Palmyra, Syria. The attack left two U.S. service members and an American interpreter dead.
“After nearly two months of targeted operations, more than 50 ISIS terrorists have been killed or captured. CENTCOM forces killed Bilal Hasan al-Jasim during a deliberate strike in northwest Syria on Jan. 16. The terrorist leader was directly connected with the ISIS gunman responsible for the Dec. 13 attack,” the military agency said.
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Cooper said in December at the launch of Operation Hawkeye Strike that the effort is “critical to preventing ISIS from inspiring terrorist plots and attacks against the U.S. homeland.”
“We will continue to relentlessly pursue terrorists who seek to harm Americans and our partners across the region,” he added.
In December, before Operation Hawkeye Strike, CENTCOM said U.S. and partner forces in Syria “conducted more than 80 operations over the last six months to eliminate terrorists posing a direct threat to the United States and regional security.”
