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Three U.S. military personnel — two army soldiers and a civilian interpreter — were killed on Saturday after an attacker targeted a convoy of American and Syrian forces, the U.S. military said.
Three other U.S. soldiers were wounded, the 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, U.S. Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth wrote in a social media post.
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 10, 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.
The U.S., however, suspects the attack to be linked to ISIS.
A senior U.S. official said initial assessments indicate that ISIS militants probably carried out the attack, noting it took place in an area not controlled by the Syrian government.
U.S. President Donald Trump, responding to the attack on social media, vowed “we will retaliate” against ISIS.
The militant group did not immediately claim responsibility.
The soldiers’ names will be withheld until 24 hours after the next-of-kin notification, the U.S. 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 U.S. base in Syria’s Al-Tanf region, near the Iraqi border.
Tom Barrack, the U.S. 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,” Barrack said in a statement. “We remain committed to defeating terrorism with our Syrian partners.”
The attack came barely a month after Syria announced it had signed a political co-operation agreement with the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS, which coincided with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s visit to the White House.
The coalition has carried out airstrikes and ground operations in Syria targeting ISIS 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 U.S. has troops stationed in northeastern Syria as part of a decade-long effort to help a Kurdish-led force there.
