Jordan says its air force joined US strikes on Islamic State in Syria

Jordan confirmed Saturday that its air force took part in strikes launched by the United States on Islamic State group targets in Syria in retaliation for the killing of three U.S. citizens earlier this month.

The U.S. launched military strikes Friday on multiple sites in in Syria to “eliminate” Islamic State group fighters and weapons in retaliation for an attack by a Syrian gunman that killed two U.S. troops and an American civilian interpreter almost a week earlier.

The Jordanian military said in a statement that its air force “participated in precise airstrikes ... targeting several ISIS positions in southern Syria,” using a different abbreviation for the Islamic State group. Jordan is one of 90 countries making up the global coalition against IS, which Syria recently joined.

The U.S. military did not say how many had been killed in Friday’s strikes. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based war monitor, reported that at least five people were killed, including the leader and members of an IS cell.

The Jordanian statement said the operation aimed “to prevent extremist groups from exploiting these areas as launching pads to threaten the security of Syria’s neighbors and the wider region, especially after ISIS regrouped and rebuilt its capabilities in southern Syria.”

U.S. Central Command, which oversees the region, said in a statement that its forces “struck more than 70 targets at multiple locations across central Syria with fighter jets, attack helicopters, and artillery,” with the Jordanian air force supporting with fighter aircraft.

It said that since the Dec. 13 attack in Syria, “U.S. and partner forces conducted 10 operations in Syria and Iraq resulting in the deaths or detention of 23 terrorist operatives,” adding that the U.S. and partners have conducted more than 80 counterterrorism operation in Syria in the past six months.

President Donald Trump had pledged “very serious retaliation” after the shooting in the Syrian desert, for which he blamed IS. Those killed were among hundreds of U.S. troops deployed in eastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting the militant group. On Friday Trump reiterated his backing for Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who Trump said was “fully in support” of the U.S. strikes against IS.

IS has not taken responsibility for the attack on the U.S. service members, but the group has claimed two attacks on Syrian security forces since, one of which killed four Syrian soldiers in Idlib province. The group in its statements described al-Sharaa’s government and army as “apostates.” While al-Sharaa once led a group affiliated with al-Qaida, he has had a long-running enmity with IS.

As well as killing three U.S. citizens, the shooting near Palmyra also wounded three other U.S. troops as well as members of Syria’s security forces, and the gunman was killed.

The assailant had joined Syria’s internal security forces as a base security guard two months ago and recently was reassigned while he was under investigation on suspicions that he might be affiliated with IS, Syrian officials have said.

The man stormed a meeting between U.S. and Syrian security officials who were having lunch together and opened fire after clashing with Syrian guards.

约旦周六证实，其空军参与了美国对叙利亚境内伊斯兰国组织目标发动的空袭，以报复本月早些时候三名美国公民被杀害。

美国周五对叙利亚境内多个地点发动军事打击，以“消灭”伊斯兰国武装分子和武器，以此报复近一周前一名叙利亚枪手发动的袭击，该袭击造成两名美军士兵和一名美国平民翻译丧生。

约旦军方在一份声明中表示，其空军“参与了对叙利亚南部多个ISIS据点的精准空袭”。约旦是组成打击ISIS全球联盟的90个国家之一，叙利亚最近也加入了该联盟。

美国军方没有透露周五空袭造成多少人死亡。总部位于英国的叙利亚人权观察组织报告称，至少有五人丧生，其中包括一名“伊斯兰国”小组的头目和成员。

约旦方面发表声明称，此次行动旨在“防止极端组织利用这些地区作为跳板，威胁叙利亚邻国和更广泛地区的安全，尤其是在伊斯兰国在叙利亚南部重组并重建其能力之后”。

负责该地区的美国中央司令部在一份声明中表示，其部队“使用战斗机、攻击直升机和火炮袭击了叙利亚中部多个地点的 70 多个目标”，约旦空军也出动战斗机予以支援。

声明称，自 12 月 13 日叙利亚袭击事件发生以来，“美国及其伙伴部队在叙利亚和伊拉克开展了 10 次行动，导致 23 名恐怖分子死亡或被拘留”，并补充说，在过去的六个月里，美国及其伙伴在叙利亚开展了 80 多次反恐行动。

在叙利亚沙漠发生枪击事件后，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普曾誓言要进行“非常严厉的报复”，他将此次事件归咎于“伊斯兰国”。死者是数百名部署在叙利亚东部的美国士兵中的一部分，他们是打击该极端组织的联盟成员。周五，特朗普重申了他对叙利亚临时总统艾哈迈德·沙拉的支持，并表示沙拉“完全支持”美国对“伊斯兰国”的空袭。

伊斯兰国尚未承认对袭击美军士兵事件负责，但此后该组织声称对两起针对叙利亚安全部队的袭击事件负责，其中一起袭击造成四名叙利亚士兵在伊德利卜省丧生。该组织在声明中称沙拉的政府和军​​队为“叛教者”。沙拉曾领导一个与基地组织有关联的组织，但他与伊斯兰国长期敌对。

帕尔米拉附近的枪击事件除了造成三名美国公民死亡外，还造成三名美军士兵和叙利亚安全部队成员受伤，枪手被击毙。

叙利亚官员表示，袭击者两个月前加入叙利亚国内安全部队担任基地保安，最近因涉嫌与“伊斯兰国”有关联而接受调查，期间被重新分配了工作。

该男子闯入正在共进午餐的美叙安全官员会议，与叙利亚警卫发生冲突后开枪射击。