Palmyra, Syria, 14 December (H.S.): A brazen assault by a solitary Islamic State operative claimed the lives of two United States soldiers and one civilian interpreter during a joint patrol with Syrian forces near the ancient ruins of Palmyra on Saturday, marking the first fatal strike against American personnel since Bashar al-Assad's ouster a year prior.
United States Central Command confirmed the ambush unfolded amid a critical leadership engagement aimed at bolstering counter-terrorism initiatives, with the assailant—promptly neutralized by responding troops—leaving three additional service members wounded but stable.
Syrian state media corroborated the incident, noting injuries to two local security personnel who were airlifted alongside Americans to the al-Tanf base near Iraq and Jordan, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights identified the attacker as potentially embedded within Syrian ranks .
President Donald Trump swiftly vowed very serious retaliation against ISIS via social media, underscoring the assault's toll as an affront to both American and nascent Syrian stability, even as Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani extended formal condolences .
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth amplified the resolve, declaring that threats to Americans worldwide would trigger unrelenting pursuit and elimination.This resurgence of jihadist violence persists despite ISIS's territorial defeat in 2019, with United Nations estimates citing 5,000 to 7,000 fighters lingering across Syria and Iraq, testing the fragile US-Syrian coalition forged post-Assad.
No claim of responsibility has emerged, yet investigations probe possible infiltration amid Syria's recent alignment with the global anti-ISIS front .
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
