US military and civilian personnel have been ambushed by a “lone ISIS gunman” in Syria, with three killed and three others injured in the attack, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Saturday.
The gunman was “engaged and killed” during the attack, according to the US military. CENTCOM did not elaborate on where exactly the incident occurred and did not reveal the identities of the victims in accordance with the Pentagon’s policies.
US President Donald Trump has vowed a “very serious retaliation” for the attack and pinned the blame on the terrorist group Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS).
“This was an ISIS attack against the US, and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria that is not fully controlled by them. The president of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, is extremely angry and disturbed by this attack,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform.
According to local media reports, the attack occurred near the central Syrian town of Palmyra, where a joint patrol of the Syrian government forces and US troops came under fire. At least two Syrian servicemen were injured in the attack.
Traffic along the Damascus-Deir ez-Zor highway was temporarily halted after the attack, and the area around Palmyra was cordoned off. Multiple US military aircraft were seen flying at a low altitude in the area, footage circulating online suggests.
The Syrian Interior Ministry claimed it had forewarned the US-led coalition of a “possible” attack by IS. The prior warnings of “possible IS infiltration,” however, ended up ignored by the “partner forces,” ministry spokesman Anwar al-Baba claimed in a televised speech.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which remain in control of Syria’s northeast, extended their “deepest condolences” to the US over the incident. The SDF, a longtime ally of Washington in the region, reaffirmed its commitment to “combat terrorism” and pledged a “decisive and direct” response “against those responsible for the attack and those who support them.”
In its statement, the SDF did not mention the government in Damascus, ties with which remain strained. Damascus has been seeking to put the SDF-held territories under its direct control for months already, yet no breakthrough has been achieved.
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