US Airstrikes In Syria Highlight Growing Challenge For President Ahmad al-Sharaa

U.S. airstrikes across Syria late on Friday highlighted the scale of the challenges confronting Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa as he seeks to consolidate control over the country while managing an emerging relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump.

According to the U.S. military's Central Command, American fighter jets, attack helicopters and artillery struck more than 70 suspected Islamic State targets across central Syria. The strikes focused on the group's infrastructure and weapons facilities, with Jordanian warplanes also taking part in the operation.

U.S. and Syrian officials, along with security analysts, say the Islamic State group has intensified its attacks since Syria joined the global coalition against the group last month. While the Syrian government did not directly comment on the U.S. strikes, it said on Saturday that it was stepping up its own military campaign against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS.

In an official statement, the Syrian government said the Syrian Arab Republic was inviting the United States and other members of the international coalition to support its efforts "in a manner that contributes to the protection of civilians and the restoration of security and stability in the region."

Nanar Hawach, a senior Syria analyst at the International Crisis Group, said al-Sharaa's administration is attempting to assert authority over Syria's internal affairs while continuing engagement with international partners. He noted that al-Sharaa faces the complex task of uniting diverse factions and religious minorities, including groups with extremist views and past links to al-Qaida, with which al-Sharaa himself was once affiliated.

Hawach added that some of al-Sharaa's more hardline supporters could react negatively to Western military action on Syrian territory. "The government is trying very hard to walk a thin line," he said.

A senior U.S. military official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss operational details, did not rule out further U.S. airstrikes. For now, the official said Syrian security forces, supported by U.S. intelligence, would increase the tempo of raids against Islamic State militants and work to disrupt weapons supplies to the group.

The strikes came a week after President Trump said the United States would retaliate against the Islamic State following the killing of two U.S. soldiers and a civilian U.S. interpreter in the ancient city of Palmyra. Three U.S. military personnel and two members of the Syrian security forces were also wounded in the attack, according to U.S. officials and Syrian state media.

No group has formally claimed responsibility for the Palmyra attack, though U.S. intelligence officials and the Pentagon have said initial assessments suggest it was likely carried out by the Islamic State group.

Syrian officials said the gunman involved was a member of Syria's security forces who had been scheduled for dismissal because of his extremist beliefs. The incident highlighted ongoing vulnerabilities within the country's security apparatus. In the United States, some of Trump's supporters have renewed calls for withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria.

Al-Sharaa and his rebel forces came to power just over a year ago after overthrowing longtime Syrian ruler Bashar Assad. Since then, Syria has continued to grapple with a weakened economy, rising sectarian tensions, political instability and an ongoing terrorist threat.

President Trump and al-Sharaa have maintained what officials describe as a warm relationship and met at the White House in November. Earlier this week, Washington lifted a final set of sanctions that had heavily restricted Syria's economy. Following the deadly attack on U.S. personnel, Trump reiterated his support for the Syrian leader.

The United States had previously conducted large-scale operations against the Islamic State while Assad remained in power. Although the group has lost significant territory and military strength in recent years, it continues to operate from remote desert areas in central Syria, launching periodic attacks.

Earlier this month, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for killing four Syrian government officers in Idlib province in the northwest. It also claimed two attacks in eastern Deir el-Zour province, including one involving an explosive device targeting an army vehicle.

In recent days, Syrian authorities said they had arrested several members of an Islamic State cell in Idlib, as well as a suspected member in Damascus who was found in possession of explosive materials and suicide drones.

The U.S. military's Central Command said it has conducted more than 80 operations over the past six months aimed at neutralising terrorist operatives in Syria, including members of the Islamic State group.

Military analysts were still assessing the impact of Friday's strikes on the group's capabilities. Andrew Tabler, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and former White House Syria director during Trump's first term, said the scale of the operation suggested the Islamic State's presence in Syria was stronger than previously believed.

Other counterterrorism experts expressed surprise and scepticism over the number of targets hit and the timing of the strikes. Colin P. Clarke, executive director of the Soufan Center, questioned why the response came only after the deaths of three Americans, saying the delay had led some observers to view the U.S. action as performative rather than proactive.