US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that "there will be very serious retaliation" after two American servicemen and one American civilian were killed in an attack in Syria, for which the United States blames the Islamic State group, UNN reports with reference to AP.
"This was an ISIS attack against the US and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria that is not fully controlled by them," Trump wrote in a social media post.
The American president told reporters at the White House that Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa "is devastated by what happened" and emphasized that Syria is fighting alongside American troops. In his post, Trump said that al-Sharaa "is extremely angry and concerned about this attack."
The US Central Command reported that three servicemen were wounded on Saturday in an ambush set by one ISIS member in central Syria. Trump said the three "seem to be doing quite well." The US military said the shooter was killed.
The attack on American troops in Syria was the first with fatalities since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad a year ago.
"There will be very serious retaliation," Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
Addendum
Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell said the civilian killed was an American translator. Parnell said the attack was directed at soldiers involved in ongoing counter-terrorism operations in the region, and its investigation is actively underway.
The shooting occurred near historic Palmyra, according to the state news agency SANA, which earlier reported that two members of the Syrian security forces and several US servicemen were wounded. The wounded were transported by helicopter to the Al-Tanf garrison near the border with Iraq and Jordan.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the attacker was a member of the Syrian security forces.
Syrian Interior Ministry spokesman Nour al-Din al-Baba reported that an armed man linked to ISIS opened fire at the gate of a military post. He added that Syrian authorities are investigating whether the shooter was an ISIS member or merely espoused its extremist ideology. He denied reports that the attacker was a security officer.