By Ginika Igboke
Syrian authorities have arrested five individuals suspected of involvement in a deadly shooting that targeted U.S. and Syrian forces in the ancient city of Palmyra, the Interior Ministry announced on Dec. 14.
Sean Parnell, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of War, said in a statement posted on X that two U.S. Army soldiers and one American civilian interpreter were killed during counter-ISIS and counterterrorism operations on Saturday. Three additional personnel were wounded in the attack. The names of the victims and details about their units are being withheld pending notification of next of kin, and the incident remains under investigation.
U.S. Central Command later said the troops were ambushed by a lone ISIS gunman, who was subsequently engaged and killed by U.S.-led forces.
According to Syria’s Interior Ministry, the attacker targeted a joint U.S.-Syrian convoy and was a member of Syrian security forces believed to have links to the ISIS terrorist group.
“Our units carried out a precise and decisive security operation in the city of Palmyra following a cowardly terrorist attack carried out by an individual affiliated with the Islamic State,” the Interior Ministry said. “The operation was conducted in full coordination with the General Intelligence Service and international coalition forces and resulted in the arrest of five suspects, who were immediately referred for questioning.”
Syrian state news agency SANA reported that, in addition to the American casualties, two Syrian service members were wounded in the attack.
The Interior Ministry said the attacker had been under review days before the shooting due to suspected extremist beliefs, but no final decision regarding disciplinary action had been made before the attack occurred.
The incident comes less than a month after Syria announced a political cooperation agreement with the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS, coinciding with President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s visit to the White House and meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.
The U.S.-led coalition has continued air and ground operations in Syria to dismantle ISIS networks, often in coordination with Syrian security forces. Last month, Syrian authorities said they arrested more than 70 individuals nationwide accused of having ties to ISIS-backed cells.
The United States maintains troops in northeastern Syria as part of its long-running campaign against ISIS, which controlled large parts of Syria and Iraq between 2014 and 2019.
Syria is now governed by a coalition of former opposition fighters who overthrew Bashar al-Assad’s government in 2024 after a 13-year civil war. The current leadership includes figures from Syria’s former Al Qaeda affiliate who later broke with the group and fought against ISIS.
Trump Warns of Retaliation Against ISIS
Speaking during a White House Christmas reception on Sunday, President Trump said the Syrian government and President al-Sharaa had “fought by our side” against ISIS. He noted that two of the three wounded Americans have already been released from the hospital and that the third is expected to recover.
“I can tell you, in Syria, there will be a lot of damage done to the people that did it,” Trump said. “They got the individual person, but there’ll be big damage done.”
Following the attack, a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers urged the Trump administration to continue working with the Syrian government to eliminate ISIS remnants.
“ISIS is still the most capable and dangerous Islamic terrorist group, and they have already demonstrated their intent to strike even within the United States,” Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a Sunday interview.
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