A gunman from the Islamic State attacked an American delegation in Palmyra, Syria, killing two U.S. Army soldiers and an American civilian interpreter today, leaving several people injured.
Three other American service members were injured in the attack, U.S. Central Command said in a statement. A single member of ISIS attacked the American delegation while it was in Palmyra for a “key leader engagement,” according to Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell in a statement on X. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said that the gunman was killed by “partner forces.”
As per Department of Defense policy, the Pentagon is not identifying or releasing the names of those killed until 24 hours after their next of kin are informed.
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Syrian state media and a monitoring group first reported on the attack, noting that several American forces were wounded, along with at least three members of the Syrian military. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group tracking the Syrian Civil War and other conflicts in the country, an American delegation was in Palmyra both to tour the historic Roman ruins there and to meet with Syrian military officials as part of the ongoing fight against ISIS.
Syrian and American forces shut down highways in the area following the attack, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported, and American planes were scrambled for low-altitude flights over the area.
The United States currently has hundreds of troops inside Syria. As part of a shift in strategy it has been working to shrink its footprint, with the goal of reducing the force from 2,000 to 1,000. As part of that plan, it has also begun handing over some bases to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, a long-time partner in the country.
This fall American forces have been conducting joint raids with Syrian security forces on ISIS cells and facilities, including destroying multiple weapons caches last month. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has noted an uptick in ISIS attacks inside Syria in recent weeks.
This is a developing story.
