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Syria’s foreign minister on Saturday condemned an attack in the central Palmyra region that killed two U.S. troops and a civilian interpreter, describing it as a terrorist act targeting a joint Syrian-U.S. counterterrorism patrol.
“Syria strongly condemns the terrorist attack targeting a joint Syrian–American counterterrorism patrol near Palmyra,” Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said in a post on X. “We extend our condolences to the families of the victims and to the U.S. government and people, and wish the wounded a swift recovery.”
Syria’s Interior Ministry said Sunday that the gunman who carried out the attack was set to be dismissed from the Syrian security forces for holding extremist views.
The authorities “had decided to fire him” from the security forces for “extremist ideas” and planned to carry out the dismissal on Sunday, ministry spokesman Noureddine al-Baba said on state television.
Al-Baba said the internal security directorate had previously issued warnings to partner forces in the Badiya region about the risk of potential Daesh attacks, but that international coalition forces “did not take the Syrian warnings about a potential Daesh breach into account.”
He said a gunman affiliated with Daesh opened fire at the entrance of a security headquarters in the Palmyra desert area. Authorities are verifying whether the attacker had direct links to Daesh or was motivated by its ideology alone.
“The attacker did not have any ties within the internal security forces and was not an escort to the leadership,” al-Baba said.
Media reports earlier said two Syrian security personnel were also injured in the attack.
U.S. Central Command said Saturday that two U.S. service members and one U.S. civilian were killed, and three other service members were injured, in an ambush by a lone Daesh gunman in Syria.
“On Dec. 13, two U.S. service members and one U.S. civilian were killed, and three service members were injured, as a result of an ambush by a lone Daesh gunman in Syria,” CENTCOM said in a statement on X, adding that the attacker was engaged and killed.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the civilian who was killed was a U.S. interpreter.
U.S. Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack condemned the attack as a “cowardly terrorist ambush.”
“We mourn the loss of three brave U.S. service members and civilian personnel and wish a speedy recovery to the Syrian troops wounded in the attack,” Barrack said on X. “We remain committed to defeating terrorism with our Syrian partners.”
In a separate statement, Barrack said the attack was “a stark and outrageous reminder that terrorism remains a vicious and persistent threat, capable of striking even as we work to eradicate it.”
“A limited number of U.S. forces remain deployed in Syria solely to finish the job of defeating Daesh once and for all, preventing its resurgence, and protecting the American homeland from terrorist attacks,” he said.
Barrack said the U.S. presence enables local Syrian partners to confront Daesh on the ground and prevents American forces from being drawn into another large-scale war in the Middle East.
“We will not waver in this mission until Daesh is utterly destroyed, and any attack on Americans will be met with swift and unrelenting justice,” he said.
He added that the United States welcomes “the strong commitment of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who shares our ironclad resolve to identify, pursue, and hold accountable the perpetrators of this attack.”
U.S. forces operate in Syria as part of an international coalition against Daesh, formed under U.S. leadership in 2014. Syria joined the coalition on Nov. 12, 2025.
The coalition has carried out military operations against Daesh in Syria and Iraq since its formation, involving several countries, though Damascus was not previously a party to it.
Since the overthrow of the former regime of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, Syria’s new administration has sought to restore security and stabilize conditions across the country.
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