Two US servicemen and one civilian were killed, and three soldiers were wounded, after an Islamic State (IS) gunman ambushed them in Syria on December 13. US forces subsequently killed the assailant, US Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees US military operations in the Middle East, announced.

Reuters reported that the civilian killed was an interpreter accompanying the US troops.

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell stated that the ambush occurred in Palmyra, a city IS once controlled during its territorial expansion in Syria. He added, "The US soldiers were conducting important leader engagement activities to support counter-terrorism operations."

US Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack further indicated that the ambush targeted a "joint patrol between the US and the Syrian government."

US soldiers conduct joint exercises with the international coalition against IS in Hasakah province, northeastern Syria, September 2022. Photo: AFP

In a post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump described the incident as an "IS attack on the US and Syria, in a very dangerous area not fully controlled by Syrian government forces." He added that his Syrian counterpart, Ahmed al-Sharaa, expressed "extreme anger and concern about the incident."

"We will retaliate," Trump told reporters outside the White House.

Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani stated that Syria strongly condemned the "attack on the joint counter-terrorism patrol" near Palmyra, extending condolences to the victims' families.

Location of Palmyra city, Syria. Graphic: BBC

This incident occurred approximately one month after Syria announced a political cooperation agreement with the US-led international coalition against IS, following a visit by Sharaa to the White House.

IS once controlled vast areas in Syria and neighboring Iraq in 2014. Iraqi armed forces, with support from the foreign coalition, pushed back IS in 2017. Two years later, IS was completely defeated in Syria following separate campaigns by Russia and the US.

Although IS no longer controls any territory, its remnants remain active and continuously organize small-scale attacks. The US, in coordination with Iraq and the Syrian Democratic Forces, primarily Kurdish militias, has conducted numerous anti-IS operations in the Iraq-Syria border region over the past year.

Nhu Tam (According to AFP, Reuters)