The US military announced on Tuesday that at least seven ISIS fighters were killed and a dozen members of the terrorist group were captured in Syria this month following an ambush that killed two US troops and an American civilian interpreter.

US Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, said in a statement that 11 missions were carried out from December 20 through December 29, following initial airstrikes on IS weapons and infrastructure.

Those airstrikes, conducted in coordination with Jordanian authorities, struck 70 targets across central Syria. 

In the operations since, the US military and other forces from the region, including Syria, four weapons caches have been destroyed, Centcom said. 

'We will not relent,' Adm. Brad Cooper, who leads the command, said in the statement. 'We are steadfast in commitment to working with regional partners to root out the ISIS threat posed to US and regional security.'

US forces will now continue 'to hunt down terrorist operatives, eliminate ISIS networks and work with partners to prevent an ISIS resurgence,' Cooper vowed. 

Targets ranged from senior Islamic State (IS) members who were being closely monitored by military officials to lower-level foot soldiers, according to a US official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations.

The official said a growing collaboration between the United States and Syria's relatively new government meant that American forces were able to attack IS in areas of the country where they previously did not operate. 

Syrian forces were the driving force behind some of the missions against the militant group this year, the official added.

The US military announced on Tuesday that at least seven ISIS fighters were killed and a dozen members of the terrorist group were captured in Syria this month 

US Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, said in a statement on X that 11 missions were carried out from December 20 through December 29, following initial airstrikes on IS weapons and infrastructure on December 19 (pictured)

The official compared the growing cooperation to that between the US and Iraq in fighting IS a decade ago and said the goal, like in Iraq, is to ultimately hand over the effort fully to the Syrians.

But for now, the US now maintains a military presence of roughly 1,000 troops in Syria as the transitional government struggles to maintain control of all of the country's territory and quell sporadic violence following the ouster of former President Bashar Al-Assad by rebel forces, led by current President Ahmed al-Sharaa.