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President Donald Trump warned Saturday that there will be a “very serious crackdown” on a lone Islamic State gunman. in Syria killed two US Army soldiers and an American interpreter in an ambush attack.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced earlier that soldiers and an interpreter were targeted in the central Syrian city of Palmyra in an attack that left three others wounded. US Central Command said the deaths and injuries were “the result of an ambush by a lone ISIS gunman in Syria.”
“We mourn the loss of three Great American Patriots in Syria, two soldiers, and a Civilian Interpreter. In the same way, we pray for the three wounded soldiers who, it has just been confirmed, are doing well. This was an ISIS attack against the United States, and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria, which is not completely controlled by the Truth,” Trump wrote on Social.
“The president of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, is very angry and disturbed by this attack. There will be a very serious retaliation,” he added.
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US forces patrol in the northeastern city of Qamishli in Hasakeh province, January 9, 2025. (Dilil Souleiman/AFP via Getty Images)
In comments to reporters outside the White House on Saturday, Trump also said: “This was an ISIS attack on us and on Syria. And again, we mourn the loss and we pray for them and their parents and their loved ones.”
Parnell wrote on X that the attack occurred as the soldiers “were conducting a key engagement.”
“Their mission was in support of operations against ISIS/against ongoing terrorism in the region,” he added, noting that “The names of the soldiers, as well as identifying information about their units, were withheld until 24 hours after notification of next of kin.”
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said that “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 short and anxious life knowing that the US will hunt you down, find you and kill you without mercy,” Hegseth also said in a post on X.
Parnell said the attack is currently under investigation. A Pentagon official told Fox News Digital that the attack unfolded in a place where Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has no control.
President Donald Trump meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the White House on November 10, 2025. A Pentagon official told Fox News Digital that the attack on soldiers on Saturday, December 13, 2025, unfolded in a place where Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has no control. (Syrian Presidency/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“I pray for the brave American soldiers and civilians who lost their lives, those who were injured in this attack, and the families who bear this profound loss,” Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll wrote on X. “The men and women who serve our country represent the best of our nation. We mourn the death of these heroes and honor their service and sacrifice.”
A senior US official previously confirmed to Fox News that there were multiple injuries after US service members were ambushed in Syria.
“The United States, CIA and military forces They are said to be very involved in securing and stabilizing the situation in Syria,” Dan Diker, president of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, recently told Fox News Digital.
The wounded in Saturday’s attack were taken by helicopters to the al-Tanf garrison, which is near the border with Iraq and Jordan, The Associated Press reported, citing Syrian state media.
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US Army soldiers prepare to go out on patrol from a remote combat outpost on May 25, 2021, in northeastern Syria. (John Moore/Getty Images)
There are currently about 900 US troops in Syria.
U The United States had eight bases in Syria to guard ISIS since the US military went in to prevent the terrorist group from creating a caliphate in 2014, although three of those bases have since been closed or converted to the Syrian Democratic Forces.
On Monday, tens of thousands of Syrians flooded the streets of Damascus to mark the first anniversary of the collapse of the Assad regime.
US Army soldiers stand near an armored military vehicle on the outskirts of Rumaylan in Hasakeh province, northeastern Syria, bordering Turkey, March 27, 2023. (Dilil Souleiman/AFP via Getty Images)
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Those celebrations came a year after former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad fled the capital as rebel forces swept the country in a lightning offensive that ended five decades of Assad family rule and opened a new chapter in Syrian history.
Fox News’ Lucas Tomlinson, Ashley Oliver, Jennifer Griffin, Benjamin Weinthal and Ashley Carnahan contributed to this report.
