Overview
- U.S. Central Command said two U.S. soldiers and a U.S. civilian interpreter were killed and three service members were wounded when a lone attacker opened fire on a joint patrol near Palmyra.
- CENTCOM and Syrian state media reported the assailant was an ISIS member who was killed by allied forces during the exchange.
- Some accounts, including the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and an anonymous Syrian official cited by AFP, suggested the shooter may have been tied to Syrian security forces.
- The patrol was part of new, limited U.S.–Syrian cooperation against ISIS, described as the first joint operation since Damascus moved to coordinate with the coalition in November.
- Syria’s Interior Ministry said it warned of possible ISIS infiltration and accused the coalition of disregarding alerts, while President Trump vowed retaliation and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed the attacker’s death.