As the situation on the ground in Syria continues to evolve, the U.S. military conducted air strikes on key targets in the country. The strikes targeted the terror group, ISIS, which operates within the borders of Syria.
There are about 900 U.S. troops operating from bases within Syria and, for now, President Biden said those troops will remain there. The main reason for their presence is to fight ISIS in a years-long, ongoing mission called "Operation Inherent Resolve."
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Over the weekend, the U.S. military targeted 75 ISIS sites in Syria, using B-52 bombers and F-15 fighters, among others, while dropping more than 140 munitions. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said some of those targets were located out in the deserts of Syria.
There is a concern among U.S. officials that with so much instability in Syria, it could give ISIS a chance to gain a greater foothold in that country. That is why defense officials said they conducted the strikes on ISIS.
"Those strikes were focused on those cells and, as you know, we reported out that we conducted so attacked some 75 targets with a number of different platforms," said Defense Sec. Austin. "We're still evaluating the results, but I think that we're going find that we've been pretty successful."
Meanwhile, another situation is unfolding in Syria, within its notorious prisons. That is where tens of thousands of political prisoners have been held, in some cases for decades.
Human rights groups have alleged that the Assad regime — which first began in the 1970s with recently-deposed Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's father — used a system of prisons to conduct mass incarceration and torture of their political opponents.
There are videos emerging on social media, which show what appear to be rebels freeing people from those prisons.
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A rescue group that operates in Syria, the White Helmets, said it is sending out search teams to one such major prison in Damascus, to search for hidden chambers which may possibly be located underground and holding prisoners.
As for the whereabouts of American reporter Austin Tice — who was kidnapped more than 12 years ago in Syria while covering the civil war there — he has yet to be located.
President Biden said in remarks on Sunday that the U.S. believes Austin Tice is still alive and they want to get him back, but he added that first, they have to know where he is.
The FBI has a $1 million dollar reward up for information leading to Tice's safe return. His family, who spoke to the media in Washington, D.C. on Friday, at the time said that a source had told them he is "well" and "being cared for," but where Tice is remains unknown at this point.
His parents, Debra and Marc Tice, released a new statement on Monday, pleading for help in finding their son in Syria.
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"We are watching the events unfold in Syria and seeing families reunited with their loved ones after years of separation. We know this is possible for our family, too. Austin Tice is alive, in Syria, and it's time for him to come home," they said in their statement. "We are eagerly anticipating seeing Austin walk free and we are asking anyone who can do so to please assist Austin so he can safely return home to our family."
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