A barrage of US military airstrikes hit ISIS targets in Syria, according to US Central Command (CENTCOM). This comes hours after Syrian rebel forces' offensive forced President Bashar al-Assad to flee Damascus.
CENTCOM) posted on X Sunday, that "over 75 targets" were struck in the centre of the country "using multiple US Air Force assets, including B-52s, F-15s, and A-10s".
"Battle damage assessments are underway, and there are no indications of civilian casualties," the statement said.
CENTCOM explained that "the strikes against the ISIS leaders, operatives, and camps were conducted as part of the ongoing mission to disrupt, degrade, and defeat ISIS, to prevent the terrorist group from conducting external operations and to ensure that ISIS does not seek to take advantage of the current situation to reconstitute in central Syria." The statement added: "CENTCOM, together with allies and partners in the region, will continue to carry out operations to degrade ISIS operational capabilities even during this dynamic period in Syria.
"There should be no doubt - we will not allow ISIS to reconstitute and take advantage of the current situation in Syria," said General Michael Erik Kurilla, "All organizations in Syria should know that we will hold them accountable if they partner with or support ISIS in any way."
Responding to the fall of Assad, the US President Joe Biden said "at long last the Assad regime has fallen." Speaking at the White House, he called the decline of the despot “fundamental act of justice” but was also wary that the rebel advance marked a “moment of risk and uncertainty.”
Meanwhile Assad and his family have arrived in Moscow and been granted asylum "out of humanitarian considerations," Russia state TV reported.
