Syria (Washington Insider) – On December 13, 2025, 2 U.S.
soldiers and a civilian interpreter were killed and 3 wounded in Palmyra,
Syria. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed the ISIS-linked attacker was
killed.
As Reuters reported, on Saturday, December 13, 2025, U.S.
forces were attacked in Palmyra, central Syria, a region known for conflict and
strategic importance. The attack killed 2 U.S. Army soldiers and a civilian
interpreter. 3 other American soldiers were injured, Pentagon spokesman Sean
Parnell said.
The team was on a key leader engagement mission with local
partner forces. They were working
to improve security and fight remaining Islamic State fighters. The
attacker, linked to ISIS, was killed by local partner forces. Helicopters
evacuated the wounded to U.S. military bases.
What risks do U.S. forces face from ISIS in Syria after
deadly attack?
In 2015, U.S. troops were deployed to Syria to assist in
combating ISIS. The deployment of U.S. troops came in response to ISIS’s
confusing hold on large parts of both Syria and Iraq. In response, the U.S.
partnered with local forces to expel ISIS from cities (including Raqqa) via
military operations that successfully took control of them by the middle of
2019. However, after being expelled from those cities, some ISIS members fled
and continued their operations in secret.
Subsequent to ISIS’s expulsion, U.S. military personnel
remained in eastern and central Syria to support the training and development
of local Syrian forces, execute counter-terrorist operations against remnants
of ISIS, and protect the detention facilities being operated by the SDF that
housed captured ISIS fighters. By the end of 2025, it was estimated that
approximately 2,000 U.S. Military personnel remained in Syria (though many of
the bases originally established had been eliminated or significantly reduced
and responsibility for operations were transitioned to local partnered forces).
