US Troops, Interpreter Killed by ISIS Gunman in Syria as Trump Vows ‘Serious Retaliation’

The U.S. sent Air Force F-16s over central Syria in a show of force following the Dec. 13 killing of two U.S. Army Soldiers and one American civilian interpreter by a gunman linked to the Islamic State group.

President Donald Trump wrote on social media, “There will be very serious retaliation” for what he described as “an ISIS attack against the U.S. and Syria in a very dangerous part of Syria.”

Preliminary information gathered by U.S. officials suggests that the gunman was a former member of Syrian security forces who had been expelled or was in the process of being removed because of his suspected links to ISIS, a U.S. official told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

The attack occurred near Palmyra in central Syria. Three American service members were also wounded in the attack, according to U.S. officials. U.S. Central Command, which oversees forces in the region, said the attack was the “result of an ambush by a lone ISIS gunman.” The gunman was killed, U.S. officials said.

The attack occurred as U.S. Army Soldiers were conducting a “key leader engagement” as part of America’s counter-ISIS and counter-terrorism efforts in the region, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. 

Videos circulating on social media show F-16s buzzing Palmyra after the attack, and a video shared by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a non-governmental organization, shows a U.S. Air Force A-10 dropping flares over the city.

The U.S. troops were conducting a joint patrol with Syrian forces, according to Tom Barrack, America’s Special Envoy for Syria and Syria’s state-run SANA news agency, which said two Syrian security forces were wounded in the attack.

“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,” Barrack wrote on social media. “We remain committed to defeating terrorism with our Syrian partners.”

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said in a social media post that the gunman was “killed by partner forces,” an apparent reference to actions taken by Syrian security forces to neutralize the attacker.

“Let it be known, if you target Americans—anywhere in the world—you will spend the rest of your brief, anxious life knowing the United States will hunt you, find you, and ruthlessly kill you,” Hegseth wrote.

The U.S. has hundreds of troops deployed in Syria as part of a coalition fighting the Islamic State group, down from around 2,000 a year ago. 

Damascus improved its relations with the West following last year’s fall of President Bashar al-Assad by forces led by the current president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, who visited the White House last month. 

CENTCOM has been pursuing closer cooperation with the new Syrian government. The attack by the gunman today is seen by some analysts as an attempt to disrupt that relationship.

U.S. troops have been operating in eastern Syria for years, where they trained and assisted primarily Kurdish partner forces as part of the counter-ISIS campaign. The U.S. has also conducted airstrikes against ISIS targets in Syria, usually with fighters and drones, and occasionally with bombers.