Context:
The United States conducted large-scale airstrikes against ISIS targets in Syria under Operation Hawkeye, following an ISIS ambush in Palmyra that killed two U.S. soldiers and a civilian interpreter.
What is Operation Hawkeye?
- A U.S.-led counter-terrorism military operation
- Involves air and precision strikes against Islamic State (ISIS) infrastructure and fighters in Syria
- Launched: December 2025
- Authority: Under President Donald Trump
- Executed by: US Central Command (CENTCOM)
About Syria
- A sovereign Middle Eastern country
- Emerged from a 13-year civil war (2011–2024)
- Currently governed by an interim government led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa
- Capital: Damascus (one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities)
- Location: South-West Asia; strategic link between Levant and Mesopotamia
- Borders: Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel
