The United States attacks suspected Islamic State targets in Syria

BarcelonaThe United States launched major airstrikes on Friday against suspected Islamic State headquarters in Syria to avenge the deaths of two American soldiers killed in a terrorist attack in the center of the country on Saturday. US forces targeted dozens of suspected sites belonging to the terrorist group in various locations across central Syria, including weapons depots and other buildings supporting operations, a US official told The New York Times on condition of anonymity. According to this source, the airstrikes and artillery fire were expected to last for several hours, well into the early hours of Saturday morning in Syria, in what the US official described as "a massive attack." Meanwhile, several social media users in Syria reported explosions across large areas of the country. The soldiers killed on Saturday were the first American casualties in the country since the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad last year. They were supporting counterterrorism operations against the Islamic State in Palmyra, a city in central Syria, when they were attacked by a lone gunman, according to US and Syrian officials.