The United States has launched military strikes in Syria to “eliminate” Islamic State (IS) group fighters and weapons sites in retaliation for an ambush that killed two US troops and an American civilian interpreter almost a week ago.

A US official described it as “a large-scale” strike that hit 70 targets in areas across central Syria that had IS infrastructure an weapons. Another official said more strikes should be expected.

“This is not the beginning of a war – it is a declaration of vengeance. The United States of America, under President Trump’s leadership, will never hesitate and never relent to defend our people,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on social media.

The new military operation in Syria came on Friday – when the US Department of Justice is required by Congress to release its documents relating to child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein/

It also came as the Trump administration has said it’s looking to focus closer to home in the Western Hemisphere, building up an armada in the Caribbean Sea as it targets alleged drug-smuggling boats and vowing to keep seizing sanctioned oil tankers as part of a pressure campaign on Venezuela’s leader.

President Donald Trump pledged “very serious retaliation” after the shooting in the Syrian desert, for which he blamed IS. Those killed were among hundreds of US troops deployed in eastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting the militant group .

Trump in a social media post said the strikes were targeting IS “strongholds”. He reiterated his backing for Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa , who Trump said was “fully in support” of the U.S. effort.

Trump also offered an all-caps threat, warning IS against attacking American personnel again.

“All terrorists who are evil enough to attack Americans are hereby warned — YOU WILL BE HIT HARDER THAN YOU HAVE EVER BEEN HIT BEFORE IF YOU, IN ANY WAY, ATTACK OR THREATEN THE U.S.A.,” he added.

The attack was conducted using F-15 Eagle jets, A-10 Thunderbolt ground attack aircraft and AH-64 Apache helicopters, the US officials said. F-16 fighter jets from Jordan and Himars rocket artillery also were used, one official added.

US Central Command, which oversees the region, said in a social media post that American jets, helicopters and artillery employed more than 100 precision munitions on Syrian targets.

The attack was a major test for the warming ties between the United States and Syria since the ouster of autocratic leader Bashar Assad a year ago. Trump has stressed that Syria was fighting alongside US troops and that al-Sharaa was “extremely angry and disturbed by this attack”, which came as the US military is expanding its cooperation with Syrian security forces.

Syria’s foreign ministry in a statement on X following the launch of US strikes said that last week’s attack “underscores the urgent necessity of strengthening international cooperation to combat terrorism in all its forms” and that Syria is committed “to fighting ISIS and ensuring that it has no safe havens on Syrian territory and will continue to intensify military operations against it wherever it poses a threat.”

Syrian state television reported that the US strikes hit targets in rural areas of Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa provinces and in the Jabal al-Amour area near the historic city of Palmyra. It said they targeted “weapons storage sites and headquarters used by ISIS as launching points for its operations in the region”. (AP)