Donald Trump Vows ‘Very Serious Retaliation’ After ISIS Gunman Kills Three Americans in Syria – Including Two Brave Soldiers and a Civilian Interpreter
- Two American soldiers and a civilian interpreter were brutally murdered in a cowardly ISIS attack in Syria
- The lone gunman opened fire on a joint US-Syrian patrol near the city of Palmyra before being killed by US forces
- Donald Trump has promised a ‘very serious retaliation’ against ISIS, saying the US will mourn the loss of ‘three great patriots’
- Syria’s foreign minister has condemned the attack, offering condolences to the families of the victims and wishing the wounded a speedy recovery
In a heart-wrenching development, two American soldiers and a civilian interpreter have been killed in a senseless ISIS attack in Syria. The lone gunman, who was later killed by US forces, opened fire on a joint US-Syrian patrol near the city of Palmyra, leaving three innocent lives lost and at least three others injured.
Speaking before departing for an Army-Navy football game in Maryland, a visibly shaken Donald Trump vowed to take action against the perpetrators. ‘These are three great people,’ he told reporters at the White House. ‘It’s just a terrible thing. Syria by the way was fighting along with us. The new president of Syria is devastated by what happened. This was an ISIS attack on us and Syria.’
In a stark warning to ISIS, Mr Trump later posted on Truth Social, saying: ‘We will have a very serious retaliation… We will do something very serious.’ The US President’s words were echoed by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who wrote on X: ‘The savage who perpetrated this attack was killed by partner forces.’
The attack is believed to have occurred during a meeting between Syrian and American officers at a Syrian base in Palmyra, with a Syrian military official saying the shots were fired ‘during a meeting between Syrian and American officers’. However, a Pentagon official has claimed that the attack ‘took place in an area where the Syrian President does not have control’.
Syrian Interior Ministry spokesman Anwar al-Baba has revealed that there had been ‘prior warnings from the internal security command to allied forces in the desert region’ of a potential IS ‘infiltration’. However, the international coalition forces allegedly failed to take these warnings seriously.
The attack has sparked widespread condemnation, with Syria’s foreign minister Asaad al-Shaibani saying: ‘Damascus strongly condemns the terrorist attack that targeted a joint Syria-US counter-terrorism patrol near Palmyra.’
The US has been working closely with Syria to combat the threat of ISIS, with Damascus formally joining the Washington-led global coalition against the IS group last month. US forces are deployed in Syria’s Kurdish-controlled northeast as well as at Al-Tanf near the border with Jordan.