The US launched ‘dozens of precision airstrikes’ in Syria on Sunday after rebels ousted longtime despotic leader Bashar al-Assad.
The strikes were carried out against known ISIS camps and operatives based in Central Syria, according to US Central Command.
This ongoing operation’s objective was to prevent ISIS from taking advantage of the chaos and reorganizing after their attempt at a state collapsed in 2019, according to the Pentagon.
The US military struck 75 targets using fighter jets, including B-52s, F-15s, and A-10s. So far, there are no indications of civilian life lost.
‘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.’
This comes after President-elect Donald Trump said the US should not get involved in Syria’s civil war.
After slamming President Barack Obama’s supposed capitulation to Russia in the Syrian conflict, he wrote in all caps that the US should have nothing to do with war going forward.
The war has been between the Syrian government and various rebel groups, some of which are backed by the United States.
Pictured: A Boeing F-15E Strike Eagle taking off. This is a type of plane that were used in Sunday’s strikes against ISIS terrorists
Bashar Al-Assad, pictured, was overthrown Sunday, capping nearly 24 years of ruling over Syria
Opposition fighters who have been fighting to depose al-Assad since March 2012 first took over Aleppo, Syria’s second largest city.
This weekend, they stormed into Damascus, the capital city, largely unopposed. They then flooded into al-Assad’s presidential palace, declaring the country free from the ‘tyrant.’
It’s now been confirmed that al-Assad and his family have fled to Russia, a close ally to the war-torn country. The news initially came from Russian state media citing a Kremlin source, but it was later confirmed by Russia’s deputy defense minister Alexander Fomin.
Fomin, who said al-Assad was granted asylum in Russia did not indicate where the deposed leader precise location was.
Al-Assad reportedly fled Syria on a Russian plane. Flight tracking website Flightradar24 showed that a plane from Latakia, west Syria, arrived in Moscow a few hours ago, the BBC reported. Latakia is home to a Russian air force base.
He reportedly left Syria early Sunday while Syrians have been pouring into streets echoing with celebratory gunfire after the stunning rebel advance reached the capital, ending the al-Assad family’s 50 years of iron rule.
‘Maybe he thought he knew that this was coming so kind of tried to take himself and leave everyone else,’ Colonel Philip Ingram, a former British Army intelligence officer, told MailOnline about al-Assad’s move to Russia.
