Two US Army soldiers and a civilian interpreter were killed on Saturday by a suspected Islamic State attacker who targeted a convoy of American and Syrian forces, the US military said.
US president Donald Trump, who indicated on social media that his Syrian counterpart Ahmed al-Sharaa was “extremely angry and disturbed by this attack”, warned of “very serious retaliation”.
The attacker was a member of the Syrian security forces, three local officials told Reuters. A Syrian interior ministry spokesperson told a state-run television channel that the man did not have a leadership role in the security forces.
“On December 10th, an evaluation was issued indicating that this attacker might hold extremist ideas, and a decision regarding him was due to be issued tomorrow, on Sunday,” the spokesperson, Noureddine el-Baba, told Syrian television channel Al-Ikhbariya.
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Three US soldiers were also wounded in the attack, the US military’s Central Command said.
In a statement, Central Command said the attack by a lone gunman occurred “as the soldiers were conducting a key leader engagement” in the central Syrian town of Palmyra. “Partner forces” killed the attacker, US secretary of defense Pete Hegseth wrote in a social media post.
Islamic State did not did not immediately claim responsibility for the attack.
“We mourn the loss of three Great American Patriots in Syria, two soldiers, and one Civilian Interpreter,” said a post on Mr Trump’s account on Truth Social. “Likewise, we pray for the three injured soldiers who, it has just been confirmed, are doing well. This was an ISIS attack against the U.S., and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria, that is not fully controlled by them. The President of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, is extremely angry and disturbed by this attack. There will be very serious retaliation.”
The attack took place in an area not controlled by the Syrian government, the official said.
Mr Baba said Syria had warned about the possibility of an Islamic State attack in that region but that “coalition forces did not take the Syrian warnings ... into account”.
He said Syria would determine whether the attacker was linked to IS or merely subscribed to the group’s ideology.
The soldiers’ names will be withheld until 24 hours after the next-of-kin notification, the US military said.
Syrian state news agency Sana quoted a security source as saying two Syrian service personnel were injured, without providing further details. The source told Sana that American helicopters evacuated the injured to a US base in Syria’s Al-Tanf region near the Iraqi border.
Tom Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkey and special envoy to Syria, condemned the attack.
“We mourn the loss of three brave U.S. service members and civilian personnel and wish a speedy recovery to the Syrian troops wounded in the attack,” Mr Barrack said in a statement. “We remain committed to defeating terrorism with our Syrian partners.”
The attack was barely a month after Syria announced it had signed a political co-operation agreement with the US-led coalition against Islamic State, which coincided with Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa’s visit to the White House.
The coalition has carried out air strikes and ground operations in Syria targeting Islamic State suspects in recent months, often with the involvement of Syria’s security forces. Syria last month also carried out a nationwide campaign arresting more than 70 people accused of links to the group.
The United States has troops stationed in northeastern Syria as part of a decade-long effort to help a Kurdish-led force there. – Staff and Reuters
