US launches airstrikes on dozens of Islamic State targets in Syria

The US military conducted 10 strikes on more than 30 Islamic State targets in Syria between 3 and 12 February as part of a campaign against the extremist group in Iraq and Syria.US Central Command (Centcom) said in a statement on Saturday that the US had struck IS infrastructure and weapons storage targets.US Central Command image of one of the airstrikes against IS targets in Syria this month. Photograph: US Central CommandThe attacks formed part of Operation Hawkeye Strike, in which the US killed or captured what it said were IS fighters and hit more than 100 IS targets. The campaign began after a member of Syria’s general security forces affiliated with IS ambushed US and Syrian forces in the city of Palmyra, killing two US soldiers and an interpreter, and wounding three members of the Syrian government forces.The US has led the international coalition to defeat IS in Syria and Iraq since 2014, partnering with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to defeat the radical group. In November, Syria officially joined the coalition and Washington has since turned towards Damascus as its principal anti-IS ally.Analysts warn that the group has been trying to reconstitute itself since the fall of Assad in December 2024, exploiting the security vacuum and weapons that flooded the country when Assad’s soldiers abandoned their posts.On Saturday, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, praised Damascus for its participation in the anti-IS coalition, welcoming the Syrian government’s commitment to fully cooperate with the US and the global coalition.The US has steadily been evacuating male detainees accused of being IS fighters out of north-east Syria over the past month, announcing on Friday it had successfully transported 5,700 detainees to Iraq, where they are expected to stand trial. The US military is reducing its troop presence in Syria, evacuating its base in al-Tanf this week after nearly a decade there.Damascus took control of key IS prisons and camps last month as part of its offensive against the SDF, in which the SDF lost 80% of its territory. Among the camps Damascus now controls is al-Hawl camp, which previously held about 25,000 family members of suspected IS fighters.Children seen inside al-Hawl camp on 21 January. Photograph: Abdulmonam Eassa/GettyHumanitarians said on Friday that almost the entire foreigners’ annexe of the camp, which had held about 6,000 women and children from 42 different countries, had been emptied over the past month. It is unclear where the foreign residents went or who removed them from the camp.