Two US service members and a US civilian were killed, and three other American troops were injured, in an ambush carried out by an ISIS (Daesh) gunman in Syria, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Saturday.

In a statement posted on X, CENTCOM said the attack occurred on December 13, when a lone ISIS gunman ambushed US personnel in Syria. “Two US service members and one US civilian were killed, and three service members were injured,” the statement said, adding that the attacker was engaged and killed during the incident.

Pentagon Chief Spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed the casualties, noting that the civilian killed in the attack was a US interpreter working alongside American forces.

According to Nour al-Din al-Baba, spokesperson for Syria’s Interior Ministry, Syrian security authorities had issued prior warnings to partner forces operating in the Badiya desert region about the possibility of an ISIS attack. Speaking to the state-run Alikhbaria television channel, al-Baba said the warnings were not taken into account by international coalition forces.

He said the attacker opened fire at the entrance of a security headquarters in the Palmyra desert area. Authorities are investigating whether the gunman had direct operational ties to ISIS or was acting independently while adhering to the group’s ideology.

“The attacker did not have any ties within the internal security forces and was not an escort to the leadership,” al-Baba added.

Local Syrian media reported that two Syrian security personnel were also injured in the attack.

US Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack condemned the incident, describing it as a “cowardly terrorist ambush.” In a statement posted on X, Barrack said, “We mourn the loss of three brave US service members and civilian personnel and wish a speedy recovery to the Syrian troops wounded in the attack. We remain committed to defeating terrorism with our Syrian partners.”

US forces are deployed in Syria as part of an international coalition against ISIS, established under US leadership in 2014. Syria formally joined the coalition on November 12, 2025, marking a shift in coordination between Damascus and coalition forces.

Since the overthrow of former President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, Syria’s new administration has been working to restore security and stabilize conditions across the country, while continuing operations against ISIS remnants, particularly in desert regions such as the Badiya. (ILKHA)