US carries out strikes on 30+ IS targets in Syria as ties with Damascus deepen

Summary

The US military said it carried out 10 strikes on more than 30 Islamic State targets in Syria between 3 and 12 February as part of Operation Hawkeye Strike, hitting militant infrastructure and weapons storage and reportedly killing or capturing IS fighters. The campaign — which formed part of a broader push against IS in Iraq and Syria — followed an ambush in Palmyra by a member of Syria’s general security forces linked to IS that killed two US soldiers and an interpreter and wounded three Syrian government fighters.

Washington has recently shifted toward closer cooperation with Damascus after Syria formally joined the international anti-IS coalition in November. US officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, praised Damascus’s participation as the US reduces its footprint in northeast Syria — evacuating its al-Tanf base and transferring about 5,700 male detainees accused of IS ties to Iraq for trial. Damascus has also seized control of key IS prisons and camps during its offensive against the SDF, including the al-Hawl camp; aid groups report the near-emptying of the foreigners’ annexe of roughly 6,000 women and children, but the fate and destination of those people remain unclear, as reported by The Guardian