US soldiers killed in gunfire at military base in Syria

Meeting in Syria

Shots at US soldiers: Trump announces retaliation

Several US soldiers and Syrian security forces were killed by gunfire at a meeting in Palmyra. It is the first incident of its kind since the resumption of diplomatic relations.

Two US soldiers and a translator were killed in an attack by a suspected member of the Islamic State (IS) jihadist militia in Syria on Saturday. Three more US soldiers were injured in the attack on a joint patrol of Syrian and US soldiers, the US regional command Centcom said. “We mourn the loss of three great American patriots in Syria,” said US President Donald Trump, threatening “very serious retaliation.”

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the attack occurred during a mission to support counterterrorism operations in Palmyra. The central Syrian city is located near an ancient archaeological site with Greco-Roman ruins, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and was temporarily occupied by the IS militia around ten years ago.

The fatal attack was an “ambush by a single IS shooter,” Centcom explained on the online service X.

Trump said on his online platform Truth Social that it was an “IS attack against the USA and Syria in a very dangerous area of ​​Syria” that is not controlled by the Syrian interim government. Three other injured US soldiers “are doing well,” Trump added.

Syrian army sources said the shots were fired “during a meeting between Syrian and American officers” at a Syrian base in Palmyra. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the meeting took place as part of an “American strategy to strengthen its presence and influence in the Syrian desert.” According to Sana, the injured were taken by helicopter to the Tanf military base in southern Syria.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrote on

It is the first incident of its kind since the overthrow of long-time Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad by the Islamist HTS militia and its allies in December last year. It is also the first incident since the resumption of diplomatic relations between Syria and the US.

Palmyra is near an ancient archaeological site with Greco-Roman ruins. The city was temporarily occupied by the Islamic State (IS) jihadist militia in the mid-2010s, and IS fighters caused considerable damage there.

In November, Syria’s interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former jihadist, became the first Syrian head of state since the country’s independence in 1946 to be welcomed to the White House. During his visit, Damascus officially joined the US-led international coalition fighting ISIS. US soldiers are stationed in Kurdish-controlled northeastern Syria as well as in Tanf, near the Jordanian border.