An F-18 Hornet ready for launch from the USS Harry S. Truman on December 12, 2024. Photo: US Department of Defence
American airstrikes have targeted Islamic State (IS) camps and reportedly killed 12 fighters in Syria, the US Defence Department says.
“Battle damage assessments are ongoing (and there are) no indications of civilian casualties,” Pentagon press secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters at the Pentagon.
He also said the US is working with Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to ensure IS doesn’t liberate its fighters from jail after the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
“(The prison camp situation) presents a significant security concern in the sense that, were IS able to affect some type of breakout of any detention facility, that would be a significant setback and something that would be very concerning,” he said.
“(That’s) why we continue to work very closely with the SDF to ensure that those detainees can continue to be held (and we’re also) working with the international community to attempt to repatriate many of those detainees; that is something that we’ll continue to communicate very closely with the SDF to ensure,” he added.
He also confirmed that the US military is trying to stop IS fighters from moving further into Syrian towns and cities and become harder to target and attack.
Ryder said the fall of the regime had made it easier for US aircraft to operate in Syrian airspace.
He also announced that the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group had entered the region on Saturday (local time).
The group consists of the flagship USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier with nine squadrons and Destroyer Squadron 28 comprising of a guided-missile cruiser and two guided missile destroyers.
The ships recently finished operations in the Mediterranean and take over from two other carrier strike groups who were deployed to the same region.
