The U.S. army launched a 3rd spherical of retaliatory strikes in Syria on Friday, killing an Al-Qaeda-affiliated chief with ties to an ambush assault by an ISIS gunman final month that killed three People, U.S. officers stated.
The most recent strike was performed in northwest Syria, U.S. Central Command introduced in a information launch on Saturday.
“The dying of a terrorist operative linked to the deaths of three People demonstrates our resolve in pursuing terrorists who assault our forces,” stated Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander. “There isn’t any secure place for individuals who conduct, plot, or encourage assaults on Americans and our warfighters. We’ll discover you.”
A U.S. Air Power F-15E Strike Eagle taxis at a base within the U.S. Central Command space of duty in help of Operation Hawkeye Strike, Jan. 10, 2026.
U.S. Central Command
The alleged Al-Qaeda-affiliated chief was recognized as Bilal Hasan al-Jasim, who U.S. officers stated “was straight related” to the ISIS gunman who killed two U.S. service members and an American civilian interpreter in Palmyra, Syria, on Dec. 13.
Within the wake of that assault, the U.S. launched a collection of “large-scale strikes” in Syria in an operation dubbed Hawkeye Strike. Total, the strikes, carried out with U.S. companions, have focused greater than 100 ISIS infrastructure and weapons website targets, CENTCOM stated.
The 2 U.S. troopers who had been killed in an assault in Syria had been members of the Iowa Nationwide Guard, state officers stated. They had been recognized as Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, Iowa, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, Iowa.
