Two US soldiers, one interpreter killed in Syria.Trump vows to retaliate

President Trump is vowing retaliation after three U.S. military personnel — two Army soldiers and a civilian interpreter — were killed on Saturday by a suspected Islamic State attacker who targeted a convoy of American and Syrian forces, the U.S. military said.

Three other U.S. soldiers were wounded, the U.S. military's Central Command said.

The attack comes at a time when the U.S. and Syria’s new government, led interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa, are seeking closer relations more than a year after rebels toppled Bashar al-Assad, who became known as one of the world's most brutal despots.

Since then the U.S. and Syria have cooperated on anti-terrorism actions, which Trump indicated will be useful in the response to Saturday's killings.

"There will be very serious retaliation," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

In a statement, Central Command said the attack by a lone gunman occurred "as the soldiers were conducting a key leader engagement" in the central Syrian town of Palmyra. "Partner forces" killed the attacker, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrote in a social media post.

Islamic State did not immediately claim responsibility, but a senior U.S. official said initial assessments indicate the militant group probably carried out the attack. It took place in an area not controlled by the Syrian government, the official said.

The soldiers’ names will be withheld until 24 hours after the next-of-kin notification, the U.S. military said.

Syrian state news agency SANA quoted a security source as saying two Syrian service personnel were injured, without providing further details. The source told SANA that American helicopters evacuated the injured to a U.S. base in Syria's Al-Tanf region near the Iraqi border.

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Tom Barrack, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey and special envoy to Syria, condemned the attack.

"We mourn the loss of three brave U.S. service members and civilian personnel and wish a speedy recovery to the Syrian troops wounded in the attack," Barrack said in a statement. "We remain committed to defeating terrorism with our Syrian partners."

The attack came barely a month after Syria announced it had signed a political cooperation agreement with the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State, which coincided with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s visit to the White House.

The coalition has carried out air strikes and ground operations in Syria targeting Islamic State suspects in recent months, often with the involvement of Syria’s security forces. Syria last month also carried out a nationwide campaign arresting more than 70 people accused of links to the group.

The United States has troops stationed in northeastern Syria as part of a decade-long effort to help a Kurdish-led force there.

(Reporting by Syria Bureau and Idrees Ali; Additional writing by Rafael Satter; Editing by Timothy Heritage, Alexander Smith, Sergio Non and Alistair Bell)