Trump vows retaliation after 2 US troops and a civilian killed in Syria ambush
This is the first attack on American service members to inflict casualties since the fall of Assad a year ago
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that “we will retaliate” after two US service members and one American civilian were killed in a Syria attack that the US blames on the Islamic State group.
“This is an Isis attack,” the president told reporters at the White House before departing for the Army-Navy American football game in Baltimore.
He paid condolences to the three Americans killed and said three others who were wounded “seem to be doing pretty well”.
The attack on US troops in Syria is the first to inflict fatalities since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad a year ago.
The ambush was carried out by a lone member of the Islamic State group in central Syria, the US military’s Central Command said.
Central Command said in a post on social media that as a matter of respect for the families and in accordance with Department of Defence policy, the identities of the service members will be withheld until 24 hours after their next of kin have been notified. The gunman was killed, it said.