President Donald Trump has vowed “serious retaliation” after two American soldiers and a civilian interpreter were killed on Saturday in a deadly ambush in Palmyra, Syria. The president described it as an attack by the Islamic State against both the United States and its new partner, Syria. It was the first American combat deaths in Syria since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in December last year. Trump said the attack took place in “a very dangerous part of Syria” that remains only partially under the control of the authorities and argued that the violence was aimed at undermining growing cooperation between Washington and Damascus.
The attack occurred outside a building in Palmyra where officials from Syria’s Interior Ministry had travelled from Damascus to meet their local counterparts. According to a US official, American soldiers and their interpreter were outside the building when a lone gunman opened fire from a nearby structure with what appeared to be a machine gun. Three additional American service members were wounded, as were two members of the Syrian security forces.
The American soldiers who were killed were part of an Iowa National Guard contingent assigned to the Syria mission, according to Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds. US Central Command said the wounded Americans were evacuated by helicopter to the al Tanf garrison near the Jordanian and Iraqi borders, where they received medical treatment. Officials later said their injuries were not life-threatening and that they were in stable condition.
Syrian authorities said they had warned their American counterparts about the possibility of an Islamic State attack. Noureddine al Baba, a spokesman for the Syrian Interior Ministry, said the ministry had informed the Americans about the risk of an Islamic State assault in the area. He claimed that the international coalition did not sufficiently take those warnings into account. The ministry added that the attacker was one of more than 5,000 personnel operating in the Badia region and had been undergoing weekly evaluations, with recent assessments raising concerns about possible extremist views.
The identity of the gunman has complicated the diplomatic and security picture. While US Central Command initially described the assailant as a lone gunman, Syrian officials and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said he was a member of the Syrian security forces. The Syrian Interior Ministry acknowledged that the attacker was within its ranks but denied that he held any leadership role. According to al Baba, the man had been under investigation for holding extremist ideas, and a formal decision regarding his status was due to be issued the following day. US officials said the attacker was neutralised by partner forces, meaning Syrian security personnel at the scene.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed Trump’s warning with stark language directed at anyone who might target American forces. In a social media post, he said that those who attack Americans anywhere in the world would spend the rest of their brief and anxious lives knowing the United States would hunt them, find them and ruthlessly kill them. The administration quickly reinforced this message with a visible military response. US Air Force F-16 fighter jets were seen flying at low altitude over Palmyra in a show of force, and drones were deployed to increase surveillance of the area.
The ambush has underscored the fragility of security in post-Assad Syria at a moment when relations between Washington and Damascus have been warming. Following the ouster of Assad, a new government led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa took power and moved swiftly to seek international legitimacy. Al Sharaa recently became the first Syrian leader to be hosted by the White House, and he has also formally joined the international coalition fighting the Islamic State.
The Palmyra attack could be a deliberate attempt by the Islamic State to disrupt the budding US-Syria partnership. Damascus has called the incident “a cowardly terrorist ambush” and has reaffirmed its commitment to taking forward the partnership with Washington. Syrian officials said the attack pointed towards the need for closer intelligence coordination to stabilise the country after years of civil war.
The broader operational context of the attack lies in the central Syrian Badia, a vast desert region where the Islamic State has long maintained sleeper cells and logistical networks. The area around Palmyra is largely controlled by the Syrian Army’s 70th Division, formerly part of the Free Syria Army, which has been integrated into the Ministry of Defence while retaining close ties to the US counterterrorism mission. The United States currently has about 2,000 troops in Syria supporting operations against the Islamic State.
Yet, the fact that an insider close to the Islamic State could hit a fortified facility has made it clear that the group still poses a clear threat despite the massive losses inflicted upon it. It has also illustrated the challenges facing the United States as it moves ahead with a new partner that continues to grapple with internal security risks.
As investigations continue into whether the gunman acted entirely alone or had links to a wider cell, the US military has increased surveillance and readiness across the region. Officials say they are prepared to carry out the swift and unrelenting justice promised by the administration if further threats emerge. Representative Rick Crawford, Republican of Arkansas and chair of the House Intelligence Committee, said: “This is a glaring reminder that the radical Islamic threat against the US and our service members abroad is still very real, and we must continue to treat Islamic State, and any other radical terror group, like the deadly threat they are.”