The United States is "definitely at war" with the Islamic State (ISIS) following airstrikes against the terrorist organization in Syria Monday evening, Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby told "Fox & Friends."
"We put a lot of pressure on [ISIS] in Iraq recently, and now we're starting to put pressure on them in Syria. I think you can expect to see that pressure to continue as well," Kirby said Tuesday. "We are definitely at war with [ISIS] in the same way we're at war with al-Qaida."
Story continues below video.
The U.S. led the attacks with five Arab partners in 14 strikes against ISIS targets, Kirby said, adding the U.S. acted alone in conducting eight against an Islamic terrorist organization called the Khorasan group that was plotting attacks against the West.
"We had good information that [the Khorasan group was] very actively plotting, and very close to the end of that plotting and planning, an attack on targets either in Europe or the U.S. homeland. We had enough information to go ahead and go after them, and so we did," he said.
Administration officials believe the U.S.-led coalition "hit what we were aiming at" in airstrikes against terrorist groups in Syria, Kirby said, adding they used "dozens and dozens and dozens of tactical aircraft, fighters, bombers from all the nations, as well as tomahawk strikes" and drones.
The Arab nations that joined with the U.S. in the airstrikes were Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan, and the UAE. The strikes included "150 precision-guided munitions" which hit 99 percent of their targets, Kirby explained, adding they took great care to avoid collateral damage.
Kirby, appearing also on Tuesday on MSNBC, told "Morning Joe" the strikes were aimed at the terrorists' "ability to command and control and lead their forces, to resupply, to train," and included attacks on depots, training facilities, and vehicles.
Story continues below video.
The Syrian government was not notified in advance of the attacks, Kirby said, and explained there was "no resistance, no interaction with Syrian air defenses or Syrian military forces throughout the conduct of these strikes."
Kirby told "Fox & Friends" that even though Turkey did not participate in the strikes, he expected they would become "a coalition member" in the campaign against the Islamic terrorists. He said it would take "everybody [in the region] chipping in and participating" to defeat ISIS.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.