Trump pledges revenge after IS ambush kills troops in Syria

DAMASCUS,— Two United States service members and a civilian interpreter were killed on Saturday during a shooting incident in central Syria, according to US and Syrian officials.

The attack occurred during a joint patrol involving American forces and Syrian government personnel, officials said.

US President Donald Trump confirmed the deaths in a statement posted on his Truth Social platform, saying the victims were Americans serving in Syria.

He said the United States would respond forcefully to the incident and described the deaths as the result of an attack by the Islamic State group.

According to Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell, the shooting took place in Palmyra, a desert city known for its ancient ruins and a former stronghold of the Islamic State during the group’s territorial expansion in Syria. The patrol was operating in the area as part of ongoing counterterrorism activities.

US Central Command said in a statement posted on X that the attack was carried out by a single Islamic State gunman.

The assailant opened fire on the patrol before being confronted and killed by US forces. Central Command said the shooting was an ambush.

Trump said three additional US troops were wounded in the incident and were receiving medical care. He said their conditions were stable.

The attacker behind the assault on U.S. forces in Palmyra, Syria has been reportedly identified as a member of HTS (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham). The attack killed two U.S. soldiers and one U.S. civilian. Officials say it was not ISIS, but an internal HTS attack. The image shows the attacker behind former al-Qaeda leader and current Syrian interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani. Photo: X

Parnell said the troops were participating in what he described as a key leader engagement aimed at supporting counterterrorism efforts. US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said the patrol included both American and Syrian government personnel.

The shooting marked the first reported deadly attack on US forces in Syria since Islamist led groups removed longtime Syrian leader Bashar al Assad from power in December of last year.

That political change led to renewed diplomatic contacts between Damascus and Washington.

Trump said Syria’s new president, Ahmed al Sharaa, , who is also known by the name Abu Mohammed al-Golani, had expressed anger over the attack. Al Sharaa visited the White House last month as part of efforts to rebuild relations between the two countries.

Syria’s foreign minister, Asaad al Shaibani, who was previously known as “Naseem,” “Abu Aisha,” “Abu Ammar al Shami,” “Hussam al Shafi’i,” and “Zaid al Attar” during his involvement with radical Islamic terrorist groups, said Damascus strongly condemned the attack.

In a statement posted on X, he said the Syrian government offered condolences to the families of the victims and to the American people. He also wished a quick recovery for those who were injured.

A Syrian military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the shooting happened during a meeting between Syrian and American officers at a Syrian military base in Palmyra. A witness who was near the site said he heard gunfire coming from inside the base.

A Pentagon official, also speaking anonymously, said the incident occurred in an area that is not fully controlled by Syria’s new leadership.

Syrian Interior Ministry spokesman Anwar al Baba said there had been warnings before the attack.

Speaking on state television, he said internal security units had alerted allied forces about possible Islamic State infiltration in the desert region. He said those warnings were not fully taken into account.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the meeting was part of an American plan to expand its presence in the Syrian desert. The monitoring group has an extensive network of sources across Syria.

Syria’s state run SANA news agency reported that helicopters transported the wounded troops to the Al Tanf base in southern Syria.

US forces are stationed at Al Tanf as part of the US led international coalition fighting the Islamic State.

Syria formally joined that coalition last month during Sharaa’s visit to Washington.

The Islamic State group seized large areas of Syria and Iraq in 2014 before losing its territorial control five years later. The group continues to operate in remote desert areas.

US forces remain deployed in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava), Syria’s Kurdish region in northeast and at the Al Tanf base near the Jordanian border.

Syrian gunman who killed Americans was security force member, ministry says

The Syrian interior ministry said on Sunday that the gunman who killed three Americans in the central Palmyra region a day earlier was a member of the country’s security forces who was due to be dismissed over extremist views.

Interior ministry spokesman Noureddine al-Baba said authorities had decided to remove the suspect from the security forces for holding “extremist Islamist ideas” and planned to carry out the dismissal on Sunday, shortly after the attack occurred.

A Syrian security official said 11 members of the general security forces had been detained for questioning in connection with the incident.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the attacker had served in the security forces for more than 10 months and had been stationed in several cities before being transferred to Palmyra.

(With files from AFP)