Trump Says ‘We Will Retaliate’ After 3 Americans Are Killed In Ambush In Syria
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — President Donald Trump said Saturday that there will be “very serious retaliation” after two U.S. service members and an American civilian were killed in an attack in Syria that the United States blamed on the Islamic State group.
“This was an attack by ISIS on the United States and a very dangerous part of Syria that is not completely controlled,” he said in a social media post.
The US President told reporters at the White House that Syrian President Ahmed al-Shara was “devastated by what happened” and emphasized that Syria was fighting alongside US troops. Trump said in his post that al-Sharaa was “extremely angry and disturbed by this attack.”
Three soldiers were wounded in an ambush by a lone ISIS member in central Syria on Saturday, US Central Command said. Trump said the three “seem to be in pretty good shape.” The US military announced that the attacker was killed.
Attack on US troops in Syria is first fatal attack since President’s ouster Bashar Assad a year ago.
“There will be very serious retaliation,” Trump said on the Truth Social platform.
Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, said the killed civilian was a US translator. Parnell said the attack targeted soldiers participating in ongoing counterterrorism operations in the region and was under active investigation.
The attack took place near the historical site palmyraThe state-run SANA news agency had previously reported that two members of the Syrian security force and several US soldiers were injured. The injured were taken to hospital by helicopter al-Tanf garrison Close to the border of Iraq and Jordan.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attacker was a member of the Syrian security force.
Syrian Interior Ministry spokesman Nur al-Din al-Baba said that a gunman affiliated with ISIS opened fire on the door of the military outpost. He added that Syrian authorities are investigating whether the gunman is a member of ISIS or just carries its extremist ideology. He denied reports that the attacker was a security guard.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth Published on
The United States has hundreds of troops in eastern Syria as part of the coalition fighting ISIS.
The United States had no diplomatic relations with Syria under Assad, but relations have warmed since the overthrow of the Assad family’s fifty-year rule. Al-Sharaa, a historical visit He went to Washington last month for talks with Trump. It was the first visit to the White House by a Syrian head of state since the Middle Eastern country gained independence from France in 1946 and came after the United States lifted sanctions imposed on Syria during the Assad rule.
Al-Sharaa led the rebel forces that overthrew Bashar Assad in December 2024. interim leader of the country In January. Al-Sharaa once existed Ties with Al Qaeda and a US bounty of $10 million was placed on his head.
Last month, Syria joined The international coalition fighting ISIS while Damascus improves its relations with Western countries after the ouster of Assad when the rebels seized the seat of power in Damascus.
ISIS was defeated on the battlefield in Syria in 2019, but the organization’s sleeper cells are still carrying out deadly attacks in the country. The United Nations said the group was still 5,000 and 7,000 fighters in Syria and Iraq.
US troops who maintain a presence in different parts of Syria (including the Al-Tanf garrison in the central Homs province) to train other forces as part of a broader campaign against ISIS have been targeted in the past. One of the deadliest attacks occurred in 2019, when an explosion occurred while on patrol in the northern town of Manbij, killing two US soldiers and two American civilians, as well as others from Syria.
Mroue reported from Beirut and Seung Min Kim reported from Washington.
