Trump Pledges Retaliation After Syria Attack Kills Three Americans as U.S. Blames Islamic State
President Donald Trump said there would be “very serious retaliation” following an attack in Syria that killed two U.S. service members and one American civilian, an incident the United States has attributed to the Islamic State group.
Trump vows serious retaliation after an attack in Syria kills two U.S. service members and an American civilian, with the U.S. blaming IS.
Trump described the incident as an Islamic State attack against U.S. forces operating in a dangerous area of Syria that is not fully under government control. The president made the comments in a social media post and reiterated the message to reporters at the White House.
Evan Vucci/AP
Statements from Trump indicated that Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa expressed anger and distress over the attack. Trump said al-Sharaa was devastated by the incident and emphasized that Syrian forces are fighting alongside U.S. troops in ongoing operations.
U.S. Central Command reported that three additional service members were wounded during an ambush carried out by a lone Islamic State attacker in central Syria. Trump said the wounded personnel appeared to be doing well, and the U.S. military confirmed that the gunman was killed.
The attack marked the first fatal assault on U.S. troops in Syria since the fall of former President Bashar Assad a year earlier. Trump repeated his warning of serious retaliation on his Truth Social platform.
Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell said the American civilian killed in the shooting was a U.S. interpreter. Parnell added that the attack targeted troops involved in counter-terrorism missions and remains under active investigation.
Reports from Syria’s state-run SANA news agency said the shooting occurred near the historic city of Palmyra. Casualties were transported by helicopter to the al-Tanf garrison near the borders with Iraq and Jordan.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the attacker was a member of Syria’s security forces. Syria’s Interior Ministry spokesman Nour al-Din al-Baba said a gunman linked to the Islamic State opened fire at a military post gate and denied claims that the attacker was a security force member, noting investigations are ongoing.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a post on X that those who target Americans anywhere in the world would be hunted down by the United States. His statement followed confirmation of the deaths and injuries.
Hundreds of U.S. troops remain deployed in eastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting the Islamic State. American forces have maintained positions across the country, including the al-Tanf garrison in Homs province, to train partner forces and conduct counter-terrorism operations.
Relations between Washington and Damascus have shifted since the fall of the Assad government. Syria’s interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa visited Washington last month for talks with Trump after the U.S. lifted long-standing sanctions imposed during Assad family rule.
Al-Sharaa led rebel forces that ousted Bashar Assad in December 2024 and was named interim president in January. He previously had ties to al-Qaida and was once subject to a $10 million U.S. bounty.
Syria joined the international coalition against the Islamic State last month as part of efforts to improve relations with Western countries. The militant group was declared territorially defeated in 2019, though United Nations estimates say thousands of fighters remain active in Syria and Iraq.
U.S. troops in Syria have faced attacks in the past. A major incident in 2019 in the northern town of Manbij killed two U.S. service members and two American civilians during a patrol.
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