ALBAWABA - The U.S. Department of Defense has released a photograph showing an American soldier inscribing a message on an artillery shell shortly before it was fired during large-scale strikes on ISIS positions in Syria.
According to the Pentagon, the soldier wrote the names of three Americans—two service members and a translator—who were killed in an attack near Palmyra earlier this week, ending the message with the phrase: “May your legacy live on.
The image comes as Washington intensifies its military response. On Friday, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the start of Operation Hawk Eye, a campaign targeting ISIS fighters, infrastructure, and weapons depots across Syria.
Hegseth said the operation is a direct retaliation for the December 13 attack that killed three Americans, adding, “We hunted down our enemies today—many of them—and we will keep going.”
President Donald Trump later described the strikes as a “very harsh retaliatory response”, saying U.S. forces were delivering “powerful blows” against ISIS strongholds.
Dozens of Targets Hit
U.S. Central Command confirmed that fighter jets, attack helicopters, and artillery units struck more than 70 ISIS-linked sites in central and eastern Syria. A Syrian security source told AFP that the raids focused on desert areas in Homs province and rural regions around Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa.
CENTCOM Commander Gen. Brad Cooper vowed continued pressure, saying the U.S. would “relentlessly pursue terrorists who seek to harm Americans and our partners."
Details on the Attacker
Security sources identified the gunman responsible for the earlier Palmyra attack as an Interior Ministry officer who had reportedly been scheduled for dismissal.
ISIS previously seized control of Palmyra in 2015 and again in 2016 before losing it to Syrian government forces backed by Russia, and later to U.S.-led coalition forces. Syria officially joined the coalition last month following President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s visit to Washington.
