U.S. Expands Operation Hawkeye With New ISIS Strikes as Syrian Government Forces Move Into Former SDF Areas
The U.S. launched a new round of large-scale airstrikes across Syria as part of Operation Hawkeye Strike, hitting dozens of ISIS targets with more than 90 precision munitions and over 20 aircraft — including F-15Es, A-10s, AC-130Js, MQ-9s and Jordanian F-16s — in retaliation for the Dec. 13 Palmyra ambush that killed two Iowa National Guard sergeants and an interpreter, with CENTCOM issuing a blunt deterrent warning that it will “find you and kill you anywhere in the world” if U.S. warfighters are harmed. Meanwhile, Syrian government forces moved into former SDF-held northern towns Deir Hafer and Maskana amid disputed withdrawal terms that the SDF says were violated, prompting mass civilian displacement (more than 11,000 people), reciprocal accusations of attacks, U.S. engagement with SDF leaders, and planned talks between SDF commander Mazloum Abdi and U.S. special envoy Tom Barrack.
📌 Key Facts
- On Jan. 10, 2026 around 12:30 p.m. ET, CENTCOM confirmed large-scale retaliatory strikes across Syria as part of Operation Hawkeye Strike — the Pentagon’s named response to the Dec. 13 Palmyra ambush.
- The Jan. 10 strikes hit at least 35 locations using more than 90 precision munitions and over 20 aircraft, including F-15Es, A-10s, AC-130Js, MQ-9s and Jordanian F-16s; CENTCOM released unclassified strike video of the operation.
- CENTCOM issued a pointed deterrent warning, saying, “if you harm our warfighters, we will find you and kill you anywhere in the world,” and added it will pursue perpetrators “no matter how hard you try to evade justice.”
- The Jan. 10 attacks are a continuation of Operation Hawkeye Strike, which began with a Dec. 19, 2025 wave that struck roughly 70 ISIS-linked targets across central Syria.
- U.S. officials framed the strikes as retaliation for the Dec. 13 Palmyra ambush that killed Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard (both Iowa National Guard) and interpreter Ayad Mansoor Sakat, and wounded three additional Guard members.
- Jordan’s military publicly acknowledged participating in the Jan. 10 strikes, confirming at least one partner nation took part in the wave.
- Separately, on Jan. 17, 2026 Syrian government forces entered the northern towns of Deir Hafer and Maskana after clashes and an agreement with the U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led SDF; the SDF says Damascus violated a withdrawal agreement by moving in before Kurdish fighters had fully pulled out, while Syrian state media accuses the SDF of attacking an army patrol and killing two soldiers.
- More than 11,000 civilians fled Deir Hafer and Maskana toward government-held areas in the two days before Jan. 17; the SDF’s withdrawal followed a decree by Syria’s interim president boosting Kurdish cultural and language rights and recognizing Newroz, and U.S. military officials visited Deir Hafer while SDF commander Mazloum Abdi was scheduled to meet U.S. special envoy Tom Barrack in Irbil to discuss redeployment east of the Euphrates.
📊 Relevant Data
Approximately 300,000 Kurds in Syria are stateless, stemming from a 1962 census that stripped citizenship from about 120,000 Kurds, with the number increasing as descendants inherited stateless status.
Country policy and information note: Kurds and Kurdish areas, Syria, December 2025 — UK Government
The 'Arab Belt' project implemented by the Baath regime in the 1970s displaced thousands of Kurdish families from border areas with Turkey and resettled Arab populations to alter the demographic composition and weaken Kurdish presence.
Continuities of Exclusion: Anti-Kurdish Ideologies from Ba'athist Regimes to Syrian Islamist Opposition — Polar Journal
Kurds constitute approximately 10% of Syria's population, estimated at 2 to 2.5 million people out of a total population of around 24 million as of recent estimates.
Country policy and information note: Kurds and Kurdish areas, Syria, December 2025 — UK Government
📰 Source Timeline (5)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
- Syrian government forces entered the northern towns of Deir Hafer and Maskana on Jan. 17, 2026, after clashes and an agreement with the U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led SDF.
- The SDF says Damascus violated a withdrawal agreement by moving into Deir Hafer and Maskana before Kurdish fighters had fully pulled out, while Syrian state media accuses the SDF of violating the deal by attacking an army patrol, killing two soldiers and wounding others.
- Over the previous two days, more than 11,000 civilians fled Deir Hafer and Maskana toward government-held areas amid a government offensive.
- The SDF’s withdrawal decision followed a decree by Syria’s interim President Ahmed al‑Sharaa formally boosting Kurdish cultural and language rights and recognizing Newroz as an official holiday.
- U.S. military officials visited Deir Hafer on Friday for talks with SDF leaders, and SDF commander Mazloum Abdi is scheduled to meet U.S. special envoy Tom Barrack in Irbil to discuss the crisis and SDF redeployment east of the Euphrates.
- Confirms that the latest large-scale strikes under Operation Hawkeye Strike occurred around 12:30 p.m. ET (1730 GMT) on Saturday and hit multiple Islamic State targets across Syria.
- Adds that the Jordanian military publicly acknowledged it took part in the strikes, confirming at least one specific partner nation in this wave.
- Includes a sharpened CENTCOM warning: 'if you harm our warfighters, we will find you and kill you anywhere in the world, no matter how hard you try to evade justice.'
- Notes that Syrian officials a day earlier claimed to have arrested the military leader of IS operations in the Levant, though the U.S. does not link that arrest to Saturday’s strikes.
- Clarifies that the Trump administration has branded the response 'Operation Hawkeye Strike' and ties this round explicitly to the December Palmyra ambush that killed two Iowa National Guard sergeants and an American interpreter.
- CENTCOM confirms a new round of retaliatory strikes on ISIS targets across Syria around 12:30 p.m. ET on January 10, 2026.
- The Pentagon says these latest attacks are explicitly part of Operation Hawkeye Strike, President Trump’s named response to the Palmyra ambush.
- This article reiterates the casualties in the Palmyra attack—Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard (both Iowa National Guard), and civilian interpreter Ayad Mansoor Sakat—and ties them directly to the new strikes as the triggering incident.
- CENTCOM issues a fresh statement repeating its deterrent message that if U.S. warfighters are harmed, the U.S. will "find you and kill you anywhere in the world."
- The piece notes that Operation Hawkeye Strike began with a December 19, 2025 wave that hit about 70 ISIS-linked targets across central Syria and that Saturday’s strikes are a continuation of that broader campaign.
- CENTCOM confirms the latest strikes are part of Operation Hawkeye and describes them as 'large-scale' attacks on ISIS targets 'throughout Syria.'
- U.S. officials say at least 35 locations were hit using more than 90 precision munitions and more than 20 aircraft, including F-15Es, A-10s, AC-130Js, MQ-9s and Jordanian F-16s.
- CENTCOM shared unclassified strike video and issued a pointed deterrent message: 'if you harm our warfighters, we will find you and kill you anywhere in the world.'
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth publicly commented on the operation, vowing the U.S. will 'never forget, and never relent.'
- The piece reiterates that the strikes are retaliation for the Dec. 13 Palmyra ambush that killed Iowa National Guard Sgts. William Howard and Edgar Torres Tovar and interpreter Ayad Mansoor Sakat, and notes three additional Guard members were wounded.