The Army shared the names of the Iowa National Guardsmen killed this weekend in Syria, identifying them as Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29 and Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25.
Both were assigned to the 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division of the Iowa National Guard, Boone, Iowa, an Army news release said.
Tovar, of Des Moines and Howard, of Marshalltown, died on Saturday in Palmyra, Syria, from “injuries sustained while engaged with hostile forces,” the news release says. The incident is currently under investigation.
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They were ambushed by a gunman believed to be part of the Islamic State group, or ISIS, U.S. Central Command announced on Saturday.
The two soldiers and a U.S. civilian interpreter were killed, and three other Iowa National Guardsmen were wounded during a “key leader engagement” in Syria, Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell posted on X on Saturday. At least two Syrian soldiers were wounded as well.
“The attack occurred as the soldiers were conducting a key leader engagement. Their mission was in support of on-going counter-ISIS / counter-terrorism operations in the region,” Parnell posted on social media.
The delegation was in the city of Palmyra, home to both a Syrian military base and Roman ruins, as part of an engagement campaign with the interim Syrian government. The gunman, a recently hired base guard, stormed into a meeting between American and Syrian officials and opened fire, Syrian Interior Minister spokesperson Nour al-Din al-Baba told the Associated Press. It follows Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s visit to the White House in November and the new Syrian government’s growing cooperation with the United States against ISIS.
On Saturday, President Donald Trump promised a “very serious retaliation.” The gunman was killed by “partner forces,” according to the United States, and the U.S. and allied forces have been carrying out steady airstrikes and raids against ISIS in Syria, Iraq and Somalia for months.
In Syria, following the attack, American warplanes flew over Palmyra into the night. Locals reported seeing A-10 Warthogs — which remain in active use as part of the fight against ISIS — flying low and releasing flares while American and partner forces searched the city. F-16s also reportedly flew over the area. Several people were reported arrested over the weekend, according to the monitoring grou,p the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
