Two US Army troopers and a civilian translator killed in Syria ambush | EUROtoday

Two U.S. Army troopers and one civilian interpreter had been killed, and three others had been injured, in Syria Saturday after being ambushed in an assault, a Pentagon spokesperson confirmed.

The assault on American forces occurred as U.S. troopers had been conducting a “key leader engagement,” as a part of a counter-terrorism operation within the area, Sean Parnell, the chief Pentagon spokesperson, mentioned.

A lone ISIS gunman attacked the American forces, in addition to Syrian forces, close to the traditional metropolis of Palmyra, the U.S. and the Syrian Arab News Agency mentioned.

The motive for the assault stays unclear right now, however the Pentagon is at the moment investigating, Parnell added.

U.S. Central Command mentioned the gunman was killed.

In a press release, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth mentioned, “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 Pentagon is withholding the names of the deceased troopers in addition to any figuring out details about their models till subsequent of kin notification, Parnell mentioned.

The ambush comes simply days after Admiral Charles Bradford “Brad” Cooper, the pinnacle of U.S. Central Command, expressed optimism for the way forward for Syria roughly one 12 months after the autumn of the al-Assad regime.

In a video message, Cooper mentioned U.S. troops had been in Syria to fight ISIS in addition to assist the mixing of Syrian Democratic Forces with the Syrian authorities. The Trump administration has embraced the brand new Syrian chief, Ahmed al-Sharaa.

As of December 2024, roughly 2,000 U.S. troops had been in Syria, however the Trump administration has been lowering the variety of troops during the last 10 months. In April, they mentioned they’d draw the quantity all the way down to 1,400.

Despite pulling some troops from Syria, the U.S. continues to battle again towards ISIS – although U.S.-backed troops initially defeated the final holdouts of the caliphate in 2019. But ISIS nonetheless maintains a presence within the area and periodically carries out lethal assaults.