ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Two US soldiers and a civilian were killed in an ambush in Syria’s central Homs province on Saturday, while three other American soldiers and two Syrian security members were wounded, according to the Pentagon and Syrian state media.
“Two United States Army soldiers and one civilian U.S. interpreter were killed, and three were wounded,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a post on X.
Parnell said the attack occurred as the soldiers were conducting “a key leader engagement” in support of ongoing counter-ISIS and counterterrorism operations in the region, adding that the incident is under investigation.
“The savage who perpetrated this attack was killed by partner forces,” US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said in a separate post on X.
Syrian state media reported that Syrian security forces and US troops came under fire near the city of Palmyra while conducting a joint field patrol.
The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), citing a security source, said the attack injured two members of the Syrian security forces. The source added that traffic on the Deir ez-Zor–Damascus international highway was temporarily halted and that US helicopters evacuated the wounded to the al-Tanf base amid heavy air activity in the area.