Two American troops and a civilian interpreter were killed on Saturday in central Syria after an alleged Islamic State (IS) gunman opened fire on a joint US–Syrian patrol, US officials have confirmed.
The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) announced the deaths on X, following earlier reports by Syria’s state media that an attack in the historic city of Palmyra had wounded American and Syrian soldiers. CENTCOM said the incident involved “an ambush by a lone ISIS gunman,” which also left three additional US troops injured. The assailant was later engaged and killed.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the troops were attacked while conducting a “key leader engagement” in support of counter-terrorism operations, while US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack described the incident as an ambush on a joint US–Syrian government patrol. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the attacker was neutralised by partner forces, describing the assailant as “the savage who perpetrated this attack.”
Parnell added that the identities of the deceased service members would be withheld until their families had been notified.
Syrian state news agency SANA, citing a security source, reported earlier that several US troops and two Syrian service members were wounded during the attack, which occurred while the soldiers were on a joint field tour in Palmyra. The city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was previously held by IS, which destroyed many of its ancient ruins during its occupation more than a decade ago.
A Syrian military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the shooting occurred during a meeting between Syrian and American officers at a military base in Palmyra, while a local witness reported hearing gunfire from inside the base. However, a Pentagon official told AFP that the attack took place in an area not under the control of the Syrian president.
In a televised interview, Syrian Interior Ministry spokesman Anwar al-Baba said there had been prior warnings from internal security authorities about a possible IS infiltration in the desert region, alleging that coalition forces failed to adequately act on the intelligence.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the meeting formed part of what it described as a US strategy to strengthen its presence in the Syrian desert. SANA reported that helicopters evacuated the wounded to the Al-Tanf base in southern Syria, where American forces are stationed as part of the US-led coalition against IS.
The attack is the first reported of its kind since Islamist-led forces toppled former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in December last year and marked a renewed phase in Syria’s engagement with the United States. Although IS was territorially defeated in Syria in 2019 after seizing large areas of the country and neighbouring Iraq in 2014, its fighters continue to operate, particularly in Syria’s vast desert regions.
US troops remain deployed in Syria’s Kurdish-controlled northeast and at Al-Tanf near the Jordanian border as part of ongoing counter-terrorism operations against the Islamic State group.
AFP
