Trump says ‘we are going to retaliate’ after 3 Americans are killed in Syria assault that the US blames on IS | EUROtoday

President Donald Trump mentioned Saturday that “we will retaliate” after two U.S. service members and one American civilian had been killed in a Syria assault that the U.S. blames on the Islamic State group.

“This is an ISIS attack,” the American president advised reporters on the White House earlier than departing for the Army-Navy soccer recreation in Baltimore.

He paid condolences to the three Americans killed and mentioned three others who had been wounded “seem to be doing pretty well.”

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows under.

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Two U.S. service members and one American civilian had been killed and three different folks wounded in an ambush on Saturday by a lone member of the Islamic State group in central Syria, the the U.S. navy’s Central Command mentioned.

The assault on U.S. troops in Syria is the primary to inflict fatalities because the fall of President Bashar Assad a yr in the past.

Central Command mentioned in a submit on X that as a matter of respect for the households and in accordance with Department of Defense coverage, the identities of the service members will likely be withheld till 24 hours after their subsequent of kin have been notified. The gunman was killed, it mentioned.

Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell mentioned the civilian killed within the assault was a U.S. interpreter. He mentioned the assault focused troopers concerned within the on-going counter-terrorism operations within the area and is beneath energetic investigation.

The taking pictures passed off close to historic Palmyra, based on the state-run SANA information company, which earlier mentioned two members of Syria’s safety power and a number of other U.S. service members had been wounded. The casualties had been taken by helicopter to the al-Tanf garrison close to the border with Iraq and Jordan.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights mentioned the attacker was a member of the Syrian safety power.

Syria’s Interior Ministry spokesman Nour al-Din al-Baba mentioned a gunman linked to IS opened hearth on the gate of a navy submit. He added that Syrian authorities are wanting into whether or not the gunman was an IS member or solely carried its excessive ideology. He denied experiences that recommended that the attacker was a safety member.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted 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 U.S. has a whole bunch of troops deployed in jap Syria as a part of a coalition preventing IS.

Last month, Syria joined the worldwide coalition preventing towards the IS as Damascus improves its relations with Western nations following the ouster of Assad when insurgents captured his seat of energy in Damascus.

The U.S. had no diplomatic relations with Syria beneath Assad, however ties have warmed because the fall of the five-decade Assad household rule. The interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, made a historic go to to Washington final month the place he held talks with President Donald Trump.

IS was defeated on the battlefield in Syria in 2019 however the group’s sleeper cells nonetheless perform lethal assaults within the nation. The United Nations says the group nonetheless has between 5,000 and seven,000 fighters in Syria and Iraq.

U.S. troops, which have maintained a presence in several elements of Syria — together with Al-Tanf garrison within the central province of Homs — to coach different forces as a part of a broad marketing campaign towards IS, have been focused up to now. One of the deadliest assaults occurred in 2019 within the northern city of Manbij when a blast killed two U.S. service members and two American civilians in addition to others from Syria whereas conducting a patrol.

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Mroue reported from Beirut and Seung Min Kim from Washington.

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An earlier model of this story gave an incorrect reference to Iraq.