By Tiffany Williams –
Two U.S. Army soldiers and a civilian U.S. interpreter were gunned down Saturday in Palmyra, Syria, during what the Pentagon called a “key leader engagement” tied to ongoing counter-ISIS operations. Three more U.S. personnel were wounded. ISIS is the prime suspect. Another reminder that this war never ended — it just stopped trending.
“This attack is currently under active investigation,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement posted on X. The names of the fallen and their units are being withheld until next-of-kin notifications are complete.
A Pentagon official told NBC News the attack happened outside the control of Syria’s government and initial assessments indicate it was likely carried out by ISIS. A lone gunman opened fire as U.S. forces and their interpreter provided security outside a building where Syrian Interior Ministry officials were meeting. Syrian security forces returned fire and killed the attacker.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth didn’t mince words.
“The savage who perpetrated this attack was killed by partner forces,” Hegseth wrote, adding that those who target Americans “will spend the rest of your brief, anxious life knowing the United States will hunt you, find you, and ruthlessly kill you.”
President Donald Trump echoed that message hours later.
Walking out of the White House before the Army–Navy football game, Trump offered condolences to the families of the dead, calling them “three great patriots.” Asked whether the U.S. would strike back, the answer was blunt: “we will retaliate.” Asked again what happens if Americans are attacked again? Same answer: “we will retaliate.”
Later, Trump put it in writing.
“This was an ISIS attack against the U.S., and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria,” he wrote on Truth Social. “There will be very serious retaliation.”
Syrian officials, meanwhile, are pointing fingers.
A spokesman for Syria’s Interior Ministry, Nour al-Din al-Baba, said the government had warned partner forces operating in the Badia region about the risk of an ISIS attack — and claims those warnings were ignored. Syrian state media reported that internal security officials had flagged the threat in advance.
The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights initially claimed the attacker was a member of Syrian security forces. Syrian officials pushed back, saying the individual had no leadership role and was not serving as an escort at the time.
CENTCOM confirmed the deaths in a stark post on X.
“On Dec. 13, two U.S. service members and one U.S. civilian were killed, and three service members were injured, as a result of an ambush by a lone ISIS gunman in Syria. The gunman was engaged and killed.”
American helicopters rushed the wounded to the al-Tanf U.S. base in southeastern Syria. Two Syrian security personnel were also injured.
The attack marks the first American fatalities in Syria since the fall of Bashar al-Assad last year and lands at a volatile moment. The U.S. has quietly cut its troop presence in Syria from about 2,000 at the start of the year to roughly 1,000 today. ISIS, battered but breathing, is still stalking the desert.
Palmyra knows this terror well. ISIS once seized the city, razed ancient ruins, and butchered civilians. Though the group was crushed militarily in 2017, its remnants still haunt eastern Syria — launching small-scale attacks and threatening jailbreaks that could reignite chaos.
Saturday night, the city was on edge. Gunfire echoed. Aircraft roared overhead. Roads were sealed.
“The situation in Palmyra is tense,” local activist Mohammed Al-Fadhil said. “Civilians are living in fear.”
Washington is promising payback. ISIS is watching. And three Americans are dead.