The U.S. military, with the help of Arab allies, begin launching airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Syria late Monday night.

The Department of Defense said that 14 strikes were carried out against targets from the Islamic State, which is also known as ISIS or ISIL. The strikes included a mix of warplanes dropping bombs, drones and warships firing cruise missiles, USA Today reported.

"The strikes destroyed or damaged multiple ISIL targets in the vicinity of Ar Raqqah, Dayr az Zawr, Al Hasakah, and Abu Kamal and included ISIL fighters, training compounds, headquarters and command and control facilities, storage facilities, a finance center, supply trucks and armed vehicles," the Defense Department said in a statement.

The U.S. had assistance in the airstrikes against ISIS from Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, according to The New York Times.

"We wanted to make sure that ISIL knew they have no safe haven, and we certainly achieved that," said Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Syria's news agency reported the strikes were not welcomed by the government of Bashar al Assad, but the U.S. did warn Syria's United Nations envoy that the strikes were imminent.

In previous weeks, al Assad had said any airstrike in Syria not done in conjunction with the Syrian regime would be viewed as an act of aggression. The U.S., who doesn't recognize al Assad as Syria's leader, told his government not to interfere.

The strikes in Syria come about a month after the U.S. began attacking ISIS in Iraq. There have been about 190 strikes against ISIS in Iraq since they began in August.

But the majority of ISIS fighters are based in Syria and for several weeks the U.S. has been flying drones over that country collecting intelligence.

In addition to the airstrikes, Congress and U.S. President Barack Obama last week agreed to put $500 million toward recruiting, training and equipping moderate Syrian troops. They will be trained in Saudi Arabia to fight both ISIS and the Syrian regime.