US President Donald Trump has said the United States “will retaliate” after three Americans were killed in a suspected Islamic State (IS) attack in Syria. This is the deadliest assault on US personnel in the country since the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad a year ago.
Two US service members and a civilian interpreter were killed, while three others were wounded in an ambush on Saturday (December 13) carried out by a lone gunman, according to the US military’s Central Command.
“This is an ISIS attack,” Trump told reporters at the White House before departing for the Army–Navy football game in Baltimore.
Trump issues warning of retaliation
Trump offered condolences to the families of those killed and said the injured were recovering.
“We mourn the loss of three Great American Patriots in Syria, two soldiers, and one civilian interpreter,” Trump wrote in a post 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… There will be very serious retaliation,” he added.
Attack near Palmyra
The shooting took place near the historic city of Palmyra, Syria’s state-run SANA news agency reported. The wounded were evacuated by helicopter to the US military’s al-Tanf garrison near the borders with Iraq and Jordan.
Syria’s Interior Ministry spokesperson Nour al-Din al-Baba said authorities were investigating whether the attacker was an Islamic State member or someone inspired by the group’s extremist ideology. He denied reports suggesting the gunman was affiliated with Syrian security forces.
Pentagon issues stark warning
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a blunt warning following the attack.
“Let it be known, if you target Americans — anywhere in the world — you will spend the rest of your brief, anxious life knowing the United States will hunt you, find you, and ruthlessly kill you,” Hegseth wrote on X.
US troop presence and ISIS threat
The United States maintains several hundred troops in eastern Syria as part of a US-led coalition fighting Islamic State. While the group was defeated territorially in 2019, the United Nations estimates it still has between 5,000 and 7,000 fighters across Syria and Iraq, with sleeper cells continuing to carry out deadly attacks.
The ambush comes weeks after Syria’s interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, made a historic visit to Washington, where Syria signed a political cooperation agreement with the US-led coalition aimed at countering Islamic State.
