The US Department of Defense announced that American forces were ambushed in central Syria, resulting in the deaths of two US soldiers and an American translator, with several other US troops and Syrian security personnel wounded. US authorities suspect the attackers were militants from the extremist group Islamic State (ISIS), and President Donald Trump has pledged retaliatory action.
The incident occurred last Saturday (Dec. 13) near the ancient city of Palmyra. This marks the first deadly attack on US forces in the area since the collapse of the Syrian regime under former President Bashar al-Assad one year ago. Pentagon spokesperson stated that US troops were meeting with local leaders at the time of the attack, while US Secretary of Defense Hagerty confirmed that the assailants had been killed. Trump attributed the attack to ISIS and vowed to respond.
Syrian state media and local monitoring groups also reported that the assault took place during a visit by US military personnel and Syrian officials to Palmyra. The Syrian Interior Ministry noted that a gunman suspected of ties to ISIS opened fire at the entrance of a military camp. Authorities are investigating whether the shooter was an ISIS member or merely influenced by its extremist ideology. The wounded Syrian security personnel and US soldiers were evacuated by helicopter to the US military's al-Tanf garrison for treatment.
The US currently maintains several hundred troops in eastern Syria, assisting local armed groups with counterterrorism training.
Since the fall of the Assad regime last year, Syria's relations with Western countries have improved. Interim President Salaf recently visited Washington last month for a meeting with Trump.
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