An attack in Syria that killed two American soldiers and an interpreter in an ambush attack. While US officials initially claimed a lone ISIS gunman was responsible, a Syrian official said that a former member of the country’s security forces carried out the attack.
On Saturday, three Americans were killed and three wounded near Palmyra, Syria. Department of War Spokesman Sean Parnell said the attack occurred near Palmyra and the “mission was in support of on-going counter-ISIS / counter-terrorism operations in the region.”
That was later disputed by Damascus. The Syrian Interior Ministry said that a member of the security forces conducted the attack. The ministry claimed that the man was set to be fired on Sunday for “extremist Islamist ideas.”
AFP spoke with a Syrian source who said the gunman was in the military “for more than 10 months and was posted to several cities before being transferred to Palmyra.”
Palestinian journalist Wael Essam reports the shooter is Tariq Satouf al-Hamd. Hamd joined ISIS in 2014, then became a member of the security forces of Idlib. Idlib was run by HTS until the group overthrew President Bashar al-Assad last year. The leader of HTS, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, seized power in Damascus.
خاص
عنصر الامن السوري الذي نفذ عملية تدمر انتمى لتنظيم الدولة في ٢٠١٤ وعمل أمني في مشفى العيون بحلب
انتقل للرقة وبعد سقوطها انتقل للبادية،
اسمه طارق سطوف الحمد من ريف حلب،بعد سقوط النظام انتقل من البادية الى ادلب مع مجموعة من اعضاء التنظيم. وانضم الى الامن العام بادلب، وفرز… https://t.co/1vdaNBENju
— Wael Essam وائل عصام (@WaelEssam77) December 13, 2025
Jolani was a former commander in ISIS before breaking off and forming al-Qaeda’s Syria affiliate. He would later officially break ties with al-Qaeda and renamed his group, HTS. Since taking power, Jolani changed his name to Ahmed al-Sharra and has been welcomed by President Donald Trump to the White House.
Following the attack, Trump blamed ISIS and vowed retaliation. He added, “Syria, by the way, was fighting along with us. [Jolani was] devastated by what happened.”
