US President Donald Trump declared Saturday that “we will retaliate” following the killing of two US service members and one civilian in an Islamic State (ISIS) ambush in Palmyria, Syria. Several others were injured in the attack.
Speaking to reporters before departing for Baltimore to attend the Army-Navy football game at M&T Bank Stadium, Trump expressed condolences to the families of the fallen, calling them “three great patriots.”
He added that those wounded were “doing well.” On his Truth Social account, the president emphasized that the retaliation would be “very serious.”
US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed the attack earlier in the day, writing on social that the lone ISIS gunman “was engaged and killed.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth likewise stated that the shooter “who perpetrated this attack was killed by partner forces.”
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights alleged that the shooter was a member of the Syrian security force, according to The Associated Press.
A Pentagon official told The Hill that the shooting “took place in an area where the Syrian President does not have control.” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell wrote that the attack remains under investigation.
ISIS overran large swathes of Syria and Iraq in 2014, proclaiming a "caliphate" in land it controlled.
Several military offensives, including ones backed by a US-led international coalition, have since seen ISIS lose most areas it once controlled, including the loss of their de facto capital in Raqqa, Syria.
However, ISIS sleeper cells remain in the area and continue to carry out deadly attacks in Syria and Iraq. The US deploys troops in Syria as part of its effort to defeat ISIS in the region.