Two U.S. soldiers were killed on Saturday during a joint patrol in the Syrian city of Palmyra after a gunman opened fire on American and Syrian forces, marking the first confirmed U.S. military fatalities in Syria since the ouster of former President Bashar al-Assad.
According to initial reports, the attack also killed a civilian translator accompanying the patrol and wounded three additional U.S. personnel. Two members of Syria’s Internal Security Command were also injured in the shooting. The assailant was killed at the scene following the attack.
In its initial statement, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) described the shooter as a “lone ISIS gunman” who carried out the attack independently. However, subsequent information contradicted that assessment, revealing that the shooter was a low-ranking member of Syria’s Internal Security Command, the main domestic security force of the current Syrian government.
According to security sources, the individual had undergone a routine internal evaluation on December 10, part of a weekly screening process applied to personnel operating in Syria’s Badia region. During that evaluation, he was reportedly flagged for holding extremist views. A decision regarding his future status within the force had been scheduled for Sunday, and the findings were said to have been shared with U.S. forces prior to the incident.
Palmyra has long been considered a volatile area, with ISIS remnants continuing to operate in the surrounding desert despite years of counterterrorism operations. The city has also historically fallen outside full central government control. Prior to the collapse of the Assad government, the area was indirectly shaped by a 35-kilometer exclusion zone linked to the U.S. military presence at the al-Tanf base near the Jordanian border, which limited Syrian military operations against ISIS cells in the region.
Following the attack, U.S. President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth both vowed retaliation. By Saturday night, reports emerged of U.S. airstrikes in and around the Palmyra area, alongside an increase in American patrols and security measures within the city.
The revelation that the shooter was a member of Syria’s own security apparatus has raised questions about the accuracy of the initial characterization of the attack and the reliability of local partner forces. ISIS itself, which has historically claimed responsibility for attacks rapidly and sometimes opportunistically, has not issued any statement regarding the incident.
The shooting has also renewed scrutiny of the background and composition of Syria’s current government, which is headed by the founder of Al-Qaeda's Syria branch, and the U.S. cooperation with Damascus.