Two U.S. Army soldiers and a U.S. civilian serving as an interpreter were killed Saturday by gunfire from U.S. and Syrian forces during a visit to Syria’s historic center, U.S. military officials said.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement on X that the attack occurred while soldiers were conducting a “key leadership engagement.” He said three other service members were injured in the incident.
“Their mission was to support ongoing anti-ISIS/anti-terrorism operations in the region,” he said, adding that the soldiers’ names, as well as identifying information about their units, will be withheld for up to 24 hours after next-of-kin notification. “This attack is currently under active investigation.”
US Central Command said the attack was “the result of an ambush by a lone ISIS gunman in Syria” and that “the gunman was engaged and killed”.
The US has deployed hundreds of troops as part of a coalition fighting in eastern Syria. Islamic State the team
Last month, Syria joined the international coalition fighting ISIS as Damascus improved relations with Western countries after the fall of its president last year. Bashar al-Assad when the rebels seized his seat of power in Damascus.
The US did not have diplomatic relations with Syria under Assad, but relations have warmed since the fall of five decades of Assad family rule. The interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, did historical visit Last month in Washington, he had talks with President Trump.
ISIS was defeated in Syria in 2019, but the group’s cells still carry out deadly attacks in the country. The United Nations says the group still has between 5,000 and 7,000 fighters in Syria and Iraq.
US troops have been targeted in the past in various parts of Syria – including the Al-Tanf garrison in the central province of Homs – to train other forces as part of a wider campaign against IS. One of the deadliest attacks occurred in 2019 in the northern town of Manbij, when an explosion killed two US service members and two American civilians, as well as several Syrians, while on patrol.