According to a senior U.S. official speaking to Fox News, the troops who were killed or wounded in Saturday’s ambush in Syria came from the Iowa National Guard.
An ISIS gunman opened fire in the central Syrian town of Palmyra, taking the lives of two Guard soldiers and a civilian translator. Three other U.S. soldiers were injured in the same attack.
Preliminary reports say the attacker had once served with the Syrian government forces as a low‑level member of the Syrian Security Forces before later affiliating with ISIS.
The official emphasized that the shooter was not part of the U.S./Syrian allied delegation that was being escorted, so the incident would not be classified as a “green on blue” event: “He was not a part of the official delegation that was being escorted by the US and Syrian troops…
This would not be considered a ‘green on blue’ incident because the Syrian gunman was not part of the US/Syrian partnered delegation.”
On Saturday, U.S. Central Command confirmed that the casualties resulted from an ambush by a lone ISIS gunman in Syria. President Donald Trump warned that this attack would prompt “very serious retaliation.”
He added on Truth Social: “We mourn the loss of three Great American Patriots in Syria, two soldiers, and one Civilian Interpreter. Likewise, we pray for the three injured soldiers who, it has just been confirmed, are doing well,” and that “This was an ISIS attack against the US and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria, that is not fully controlled by them.”
Earlier this year, two members of the West Virginia National Guard were ambushed and shot near the White House in Washington, D.C., in a targeted attack that resulted in one fatality.
Greg Norman of Fox News contributed to this report.
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