Two U.S. Army soldiers and a U.S. civilian interpreter were killed in Palmyra, Syria, on Saturday in an attack believed to have been carried out by an ISIS infiltrator inside the Syrian security forces. Three more U.S. soldiers and two other members of Syrian security forces were also wounded in the ambush.
According to The New York Times, the soldiers were providing security outside a building where Syrian Interior Ministry officials from the capital were meeting with local counterparts. The lone attacker opened fire with an automatic weapon from a nearby building before Syrian security forces returned fire and killed the gunmen.
U.S. helicopters evacuated the wounded to a military base in southeastern Syria for treatment. On Sunday, President Donald Trump announced that two of the wounded service members were released from the hospital, while the third is expected to recover.
The Victims
Over the weekend, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds confirmed the deceased soldiers were part of the Iowa National Guard. The two men have since been identified as Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres Tovar, 25, of Des Moines and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown.
On X, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth wrote, in part: “The United States of America will avenge these fallen Americans with overwhelming force. Their memory will live on through their families, their fellow warriors still serving our country, and in my unwavering commitment to our warfighters around the globe.”
Speaking from the White House lawn on Saturday, President Trump called the ambush “terrible” and said he had heard Syrian President Ahmed Al Shara was “devastated” by the news. “This was an ISIS attack on us and Syria,” the president said. “And again, we mourn the loss and we pray for them and their parents and their loved ones.”
When a reporter asked Trump if the U.S. will “retaliate against ISIS,” he did not mince words. “Yeah, we will,” he responded. “We will retaliate.”
The Shooter
As reported on Monday’s AM Update, U.S. and Syrian officials told The Wall Street Journal the attacker was a member of the Syrian security forces who was about to be fired for holding extremist views. The shooter is believed to be a member of ISIS, who, CBS News reported, had infiltrated the local security force, though no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The ambush marked the first American casualties in Syria since dictator Bashar al-Assad’s regime was toppled last year. U.S. officials have not yet indicated if the attack will prompt any policy changes in the region.
You can get all the day’s headlines by tuning into the AM Update with Megyn Kelly on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch AM Update on SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Channel (channel 111).