Two Iowa National Guard soldiers and an American civilian interpreter were killed when an ISIS-linked gunman opened fire during a U.S. patrol in the Syrian town of Palmyra.
The Pentagon said the attack occurred while U.S. soldiers were conducting a “key leader engagement” as part of America’s counter-ISIS and counterterrorism operations in the region.
Three members of the Syrian security forces were also wounded during the clash with the gunman, Interior Ministry spokesperson Nour al-Din al-Baba said. The attacker was killed after Syrian troops returned fire.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.
Preliminary reports revealed that the attacker was among 5,000 members recently recruited into a new Syrian security forces division in the Badiya desert, a region where IS remnants remain active.
Officials had grown suspicious of a possible infiltrator and flagged him during a review last week, but continued monitoring to confirm any IS links. As a precaution, he was reassigned to guard equipment away from leadership and U.S.-led coalition patrols, Al-Baba said.
Meanwhile, in response to the attack, the U.S. deployed F-16s over central Syria, with President Donald Trump vowing “very serious retaliation” for what he called a “dangerous ISIS attack.”
Syria: US fighter jets are in the skies over Palmyra after a joint American-Syrian security patrol got attacked by a suspected IS fighter on the road east of the city.
Two American soldiers were killed and a number of Syrian security personnel wounded in the assault. pic.twitter.com/if655FmT8T
— Thomas van Linge (@ThomasVLinge) December 13, 2025
A video released by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a non-governmental group, shows a U.S. Air Force A-10 deploying flares over the city.
طائرات أمريكية تلقي قنـ ـابل مضيئة في سماء تدمر بحثا عن خـ ـلايا “التـ ـنـ ـظـ ـيم”. pic.twitter.com/kq9rEWGdsz
— المرصد السوري لحقوق الإنسان (@syriahr) December 13, 2025
War Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a post on X: “Let it be known, if you target Americans, anywhere in the world, you will spend the rest of your brief, anxious life knowing the United States will hunt you, find you, and ruthlessly kill you.”
The savage who perpetrated this attack was killed by partner forces.
Let it be known, if you target Americans — anywhere in the world — you will spend the rest of your brief, anxious life knowing the United States will hunt you, find you, and ruthlessly kill you. https://t.co/P7D9NrWpAL
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) December 13, 2025
The U.S. currently has fewer than 1,000 troops stationed in Syria as part of the coalition combating the Islamic State, a decline from roughly 2,000 deployed a year ago.
