Trump pledges retaliation after three Americans are killed in Syria ambush

Damascus, Syria: President Donald Trump says “there will be very serious retaliation” after two US service members and an American civilian were killed in an attack in Syria that the United States blames on Islamic State.

“This was an ISIS attack against the US, and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria, that is not fully controlled by them,” he said in a social media post.

The American president told reporters at the White House that Syria’s president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, was “devastated by what happened” and stressed that Syria was fighting alongside US troops. Trump, in his post, said al-Sharaa was “extremely angry and disturbed by this attack”.

Republican Senator Joni Ernst said the soldiers were members of the Iowa National Guard, where she, too, once served. “Our Iowa National Guard family is hurting as we mourn the loss of two of our own and pray for the recovery of the three soldiers wounded,” she said.

US Central Command said three service members were also wounded in the ambush on Saturday (Sunday AEDT) by a lone IS member in central Syria. Trump said the three “seem to be doing pretty well”. The US military said the gunman was killed in the attack. Syrian officials said the attack wounded members of Syria’s security forces as well.

The attack on US troops in Syria was the first with fatalities since the fall of former president Bashar Assad a year ago.

“There will be very serious retaliation,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

The Pentagon’s chief spokesman, Sean Parnell, said the civilian killed was a US interpreter. Parnell said the attack targeted soldiers involved in ongoing counter-terrorism operations in the region and was under active investigation.

The shooting took place near historic Palmyra, according to the state-run SANA news agency. The casualties were taken by helicopter to the al-Tanf garrison near the border with Iraq and Jordan.

Syria’s Interior Ministry spokesman, Nour al-Din al-Baba, said a gunman linked to IS opened fire at the gate of a military post. He added that Syrian authorities were looking into whether the gunman was an IS member or only carried its extreme ideology. He denied reports that suggested that the attacker was a security member.

Later, al-Baba said the attacker was a member of the Internal Security force in the desert, adding that he “did not have any command post” within the forces nor was he a bodyguard for the force commander.

Al-Baba added in an interview with state TV that some 5000 members had joined Internal Security forces in the desert and were evaluated on a weekly basis. He added that three days ago, an evaluation was made for the attacker that concluded he might have extreme ideology and a decision was expected to be issued regarding his case on Sunday, but “the attack occurred on a Saturday, which is a day off for state institutions”.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on X: “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.”

US officials made no reference in their statements to the gunman being a member of the Syrian security forces. When asked about the matter, a Pentagon official did not directly respond to the question but said, “this attack took place in an area where the Syrian president does not have control”.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military issues.

The US has hundreds of troops deployed in eastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting IS.

The US had no diplomatic relations with Syria under Assad, but ties have warmed since the fall of the five-decade Assad family rule. Al-Sharaa, made a historic visit to Washington last month where he held talks with Trump. It was the first White House visit by a Syrian head of state since the Middle Eastern country gained independence from France in 1946 and came after the US lifted sanctions imposed on Syria during the Assads’ rule.

Al-Sharaa led the rebel forces that toppled Bashar Assad in December 2024 and was named the country’s interim leader in January. Al-Sharaa once had ties to al-Qaida and had a $US10 million ($15 million) US bounty on his head.

Last month, Syria joined the international coalition fighting against the IS as Damascus improves its relations with Western countries following the ouster of Assad when insurgents captured his seat of power in Damascus.

IS was defeated on the battlefield in Syria in 2019 but the group’s sleeper cells still carry out deadly attacks in the country. The United Nations says the group still has between 5000 and 7000 fighters in Syria and Iraq.

AP

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