Two United States Army soldiers and a civilian interpreter have been killed in Syria in an Islamic terrorist ambush, while several more were wounded.
Sean Parnell, who serves as assistant to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, posted on X Saturday, “Today in Palmyra, Syria, two United States Army soldiers and one civilian U.S. interpreter were killed, and three were wounded. The attack occurred as the soldiers were conducting a key leader engagement. Their mission was in support of on-going counter-ISIS / counter-terrorism operations in the region.” A subsequent government post has confirmed that ISIS performed the ambush. The terrorist responsible for the ambush has already been killed.
Parnell added, “The soldiers’ names, as well as identifying information about their units, are being withheld until 24 hours after the next of kin notification. This attack is currently under active investigation.” What a heartbreaking Christmas the families of those brave soldiers will have. We pray for their families during this unimaginably difficult time.
Hegseth followed up on that post by confirming: “The savage who perpetrated this attack was killed by partner forces. Let it be known, if you target Americans — anywhere in the world — you will spend the rest of your brief, anxious life knowing the United States will hunt you, find you, and ruthlessly kill you.”
Hegseth did not say who was responsible for the killing in Syria, which has been full of warring jihadi factions for years, but U.S. Central Command confirmed it was ISIS.
U.S. Personnel Ambushed by ISIS Gunman in Syria
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) December 13, 2025
TAMPA, Fla. – On Dec. 13, two U.S. service members and one U.S. civilian were killed, and three service members were injured, as a result of an ambush by a lone ISIS gunman in Syria. The gunman was engaged and killed.
As a matter…
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The current regime in charge of Syria is terrorist group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which has been imposing harsh sharia on conquered territory, and massacring civilians for many years. HTS leader al-Golani, who changed his name to al-Sharaa when he took over running and ruining Syria, had a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head until very recently.
Tons of bloodshed in Syria today.
— Stella Escobedo (@StellaEscoTV) March 7, 2025
Jihadis there are murdering Christians, Druze, Yazidis, and even Alawite Muslims.
Genocide.
This is Al-Julanis HTS. pic.twitter.com/iAN7pzjsE2
Al-Sharaa got his start with al-Qaeda, and broke into his bloody business by fighting American soldiers. He was even in American custody for some time. He is guilty of many atrocities, and his forces have for much of this year been assisting other jihadis in committing genocide against Syrian Christians and Druze. Al-Sharaa has occasionally made promises of reform and tolerance without changing HTS’s actions. HTS and ISIS are historically rival terror groups.
Why are our soldiers still in Syria? What is the good so great we have accomplished there that we should continue to risk the lives of our brave troops?
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