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 mentioned.
The gunman was killed by “companion forces” throughout a skirmish, in response to Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth.
On this Jan. 9, 2025, file picture, US forces patrol in Syria’s northeastern metropolis Qamishli, within the Hasakeh province.
Delil Souleiman/AFP through Getty Pictures, FILE
Three different service members had been injured throughout the incident in Palmyra, Syria, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell mentioned in a press release. Two U.S. officers advised ABC Information the wounded had been American.
“The assault occurred because the troopers had been conducting a key chief engagement. Their mission was in help of on-going counter-ISIS / counter-terrorism operations within the area,” Parnell mentioned 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 precise 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 in your consideration to this matter!” he mentioned within the submit.
Trump claimed the incident was an “ISIS assault towards the U.S., and Syria, in a really harmful a part of Syria, that isn’t 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 transient 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 as a consequence of ongoing next-of-kin notifications, officers mentioned.
On this Jan. 9, 2025,, file picture, a US soldier holds a canine as forces patrol in Syria’s northeastern metropolis Qamishli, within the Hasakeh province.
Delil Souleiman/AFP through Getty Pictures, FILE
The three American fatalities in right now’s assault in Syria are the primary fight deaths in that nation since 2019 when 4 People 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 newest 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.
