Two American soldiers and an American civilian interpreter were killed in an attack by ISIS in Syria on Saturday.
The Pentagon and a senior Syrian official said the soldiers were supporting counterterrorism operations when they came under fire in Palmyra, a city in the country’s central desert region once held by the extremist group.
Three others were wounded, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said, in an attack that indicates continued high levels of instability in Syria.
The attack took place during a visit by US troops to an office used by the country’s internal security forces, a senior official in the area told The National.
According to the official, the attacker was “associated with ISIS” and shot at the US troops, who were then flown to Al Tanf base, where an American contingent is based.
President Donald Trump said that there would be "very serious retaliation". In a post on Truth Social, he said that "this was an ISIS attack against the US, and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria, that is not fully controlled by them".
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the attacker, who was responsible for the first American combat deaths in Syria in three years, was killed by partner forces. The Syrian official also confirmed that the attacker was killed.
In a statement, US Central Command said that the deaths resulted from an "ambush by a lone ISIS gunman" who was "engaged and killed". The names of the deceased would be withheld until 24 hours after their next of kin have been notified, it said.
Syrian state news agency Sana earlier reported that traffic on a local motorway was halted following the attack, and a local media network in Palmyra published video of what it said was a US aircraft flying over the city "as part of aerial reconnaissance and surveillance" to monitor potential ISIS activity following the incident.
Local internal security forces announced a heightened state of alert after the attack, while military troops remained in their bases, the Syrian official said.
US troops are stationed at Al Tanf, a military base near Syria's eastern border with Iraq and Syria, where they are working with local troops in counter-ISIS operations. There are also US personnel stationed in areas in the north-east of the country, where Washington has long supported Kurdish militias against the extremist group.
ISIS members continue to roam the Syrian Desert and operate cells in the south of the country, representing one of the many security challenges facing President Ahmed Al Shara's government. Last month, the US confirmed it destroyed 15 sites containing ISIS weapons caches in southern Syria.
The National has visited Syrian troops at Al Tanf twice since the fall of the Assad regime a year ago. Commanders there have called for continued international support to be able to maintain pressure on the extremist group and prevent it from regrouping in the country.
