U.S. Soldiers and Civilian Interpreter Killed in Palmyra Ambush

Two U.S. Army soldiers and an American civilian interpreter were killed on December 13 in an ambush in Palmyra, central Syria, U.S. Central Command and Pentagon officials announced, and three other U.S. service members were wounded. CENTCOM said the attacker, described in initial U.S. assessments as a lone Islamic State gunman, was engaged and killed at the scene. The identities of the deceased were being withheld in accordance with Department of Defense policy until 24 hours after next of kin notification.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the shooting happened "as the soldiers were concluding a key leader engagement." Officials said the U.S. presence in the area supported counterterrorism operations and engagements with local partners aimed at degrading Isis capabilities. Injured U.S. and allied personnel were evacuated by U.S. helicopters to a base, according to both U.S. and Syrian state media accounts.

The circumstances of the attack remain under investigation. U.S. and regional accounts diverge on critical points. The U.S. description of a lone Isis gunman has not been matched by local outlets that reported differing versions of events. The UK based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attacker was a member of Syrian security forces. Syrian state news agency SANA, citing a security source, reported several U.S. troops and two Syrian service members wounded. Those accounts have not been corroborated by U.S. officials and are being examined alongside witness statements and available intelligence.

No group had formally claimed responsibility at the time of U.S. briefings and media reports noted the lack of a public claim. CENTCOM has opened inquiries into the attack and is coordinating reviews to reconcile the contrasting narratives and to determine full culpability. Pentagon posts by Mr. Parnell stressed that the incident is under investigation.

The incident highlights the fraught security environment in parts of central Syria, where the Pentagon has stressed operations often take place in areas "where the Syrian president does not have control." That reality complicates the legal and diplomatic framework for U.S. operations, because action by American forces can intersect with multiple armed actors, competing sovereignties, and the interests of regional patrons. The death of an American civilian interpreter also underlines the risks faced by local and expatriate partners who work with U.S. forces and the fragility of cooperation in contested zones.

President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social mourning the loss and vowing "very serious retaliation," according to several reports. Any response will be weighed against operational assessments, the ongoing investigation, and the broader strategic calculus of U.S. engagement in Syria, where Russian, Iranian, Turkish and local actors all maintain influence. For now, U.S. officials have stressed a methodical inquiry and caution as they seek to establish a full account of what occurred in Palmyra and to determine the implications for ongoing counterterrorism efforts in the region.