Two U.S. troopers and one civilian U.S. interpreter had been killed in Syria on Saturday after they had been ambushed by a possible ISIS gunman, U.S. officers stated.
The gunman was killed by “accomplice forces” throughout a skirmish, based on Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth.
On this Jan. 9, 2025, file photograph, US forces patrol in Syria’s northeastern metropolis Qamishli, within the Hasakeh province.
Delil Souleiman/AFP by way of Getty Pictures, FILE
Three different service members had been injured throughout the incident in Palmyra, Syria, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell stated in a press release. Two U.S. officers instructed ABC Information the wounded had been American.
“The assault occurred because the troopers had been conducting a key chief engagement. Their mission was in assist of on-going counter-ISIS / counter-terrorism operations within the area,” Parnell stated in a press release.
This marked the primary fight deaths since President Donald Trump returned to the Oval Workplace.
Trump took to social media Saturday to specific his condolences for the fallen troopers, and condemn the assault.
“The President of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, is extraordinarily offended and disturbed by this assault. There will likely be very severe retaliation. Thanks on your consideration to this matter!” he stated within the submit.
Trump claimed the incident was an “ISIS assault in opposition to the U.S., and Syria, in a really harmful a part of Syria, that’s not absolutely managed by them.”
President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he departs from the South Garden of the White Home, Dec. 13, 2025, in Washington, D.C., en path to Baltimore to attend the Military-Navy soccer recreation.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
The president echoed his statements with temporary remarks to the press Saturday, reiterating as he walked away from reporters, “We are going to retaliate.”
The identities of the troopers weren’t instantly revealed attributable to ongoing next-of-kin notifications, officers stated.
On this Jan. 9, 2025,, file photograph, a US soldier holds a canine as forces patrol in Syria’s northeastern metropolis Qamishli, within the Hasakeh province.
Delil Souleiman/AFP by way of Getty Pictures, FILE
The three American fatalities in at this time’s assault in Syria are the primary fight deaths in that nation since 2019 when 4 Individuals had been killed in a suicide bomb assault in Manbij, Syria.
Previous to Saturday, there had been 10 U.S. navy deaths in Syria, together with a mixture of hostile and non-hostile deaths. The latest U.S. navy demise in Syria was a non-hostile demise in February 2022.
-ABC Information’ Selina Wang and Emily Chang contributed to this report.
