Two U.S. Army soldiers and a U.S. civilian interpreter were killed, and three other service members wounded, after an ISIS gunman ambushed a joint U.S.-Syrian patrol near Palmyra in central Syria, Pentagon officials said.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the attack occurred while U.S. forces were conducting a ‘key leader engagement’ in support of ongoing counter-ISIS and counter-terrorism operations in the region. The civilian killed was serving as an interpreter, U.S. officials said.
U.S. Central Command described the incident as an ambush carried out by a lone ISIS gunman, who was engaged and killed at the scene. The attack remains under active investigation, and the identities of the fallen service members have not been released pending notification of next of kin.
The attacker was reported to be a member of the Syrian security forces, and an evaluation had suggested he might hold extremist ideas, according to Syrian Interior Ministry spokesperson Noureddine el-Baba. He said Syria had warned of a possible ISIS attack in the region, but coalition forces did not take the warnings into account. Syria will determine whether the attacker had direct links to ISIS or merely subscribed to the group’s ideology.
The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that two Syrian security personnel were also wounded in the shooting. No immediate details were provided on their condition.
The incident prompted a temporary closure of the highway linking Deir ez-Zor in eastern Syria with Damascus. Intensive aerial activity was reported in the area following the attack, with U.S. helicopters evacuating the wounded to the Al-Tanf base in southeastern Syria.
The Palmyra region is known for the presence of Islamic State (ISIS/Daesh) sleeper cells, which continue to carry out sporadic attacks across Syria’s south-eastern desert despite the group’s territorial defeat.
U.S. President Donald Trump vowed ‘very serious retaliation’ on his Truth Social platform, mourning the loss of ‘three great patriots’ and describing the incident as a ‘terrible’ attack. Tom Barrack, U.S. ambassador to Türkiye and special envoy to Syria, also condemned the attack, saying: ‘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.’
U.S. forces operate in Syria as part of the U.S.-led international coalition against ISIS, formed in 2014. Syria officially joined the coalition on 12 November 2025, marking its first formal participation after years of indirect involvement. The attack came barely a month after Syria signed a political cooperation agreement with the U.S.-led coalition, coinciding with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s visit to the White House.
The U.S.-led coalition has carried out airstrikes and ground operations in Syria targeting Islamic State suspects in recent months, often alongside Syrian security forces. Syria recently arrested more than 70 people accused of links to the group. The United States has troops stationed in north-eastern Syria as part of a decade-long effort to help a Kurdish-led force there.
Since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024, Syria’s new administration has sought to restore security and stabilise conditions nationwide amid continued insurgent threats.
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