 "In this photo released by Syrian Presidency press office, US President Donald Trump, left, shakes hands with Syria's President Ahmad al-Sharaa, at the White House in Washington, DC, US, November 10, 2025. Image/AP")
US President Donald Trump on Saturday warned that there will be a “very serious retaliation” after two US soldiers and one civilian interpreter were killed in an ambush in Syria. The incident also left three other soldiers wounded.
In a statement on Saturday, the US Central Command and the Department of Defence said that a single ISIS gunman carried out the attack. “We will retaliate,” Trump told reporters at the White House when asked about the tragic incident. He insisted that currently the country is mourning “the loss of the three great American patriots” and praying for the three wounded, who “seem to be doing pretty well.”
Trump also noted that the United States would continue to cooperate with the Syrian forces in order to tackle the issue in West Asia . “Syria, by the way, was fighting along with us,” Trump said, adding that Syria’s new president is “devastated by what happened.”
The soldiers’ “mission was in support of ongoing counter-ISIS / counter-terrorism operations in the region,” wrote Sean Parnell, chief spokesperson for the Pentagon, in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter. He made it clear that the names of those killed in the attack will be withheld until the next of kin are notified.
Attacker killed
In a separate statement, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the ISIS attacker responsible for the incident 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 wrote on X.
After speaking with reporters, Trump reiterated his warning of retaliation in a social media post. He called the incident “an ISIS attack against the US and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria, that is not fully controlled by them,” and said Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa “is extremely angry and disturbed by this attack.”
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View All“There will be very serious retaliation,” Trump wrote. Meanwhile, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani also condemned the attack on Saturday. “We extend our condolences to the victims’ families and to the US government and people, and we wish the wounded a speedy recovery,” al-Shaibani wrote on X.
The deadly attack came just a month after Syria joined the US-led coalition, which was formed in 2014. The coalition has been conducting military operations against ISIS in Syria and Iraq with the participation of multiple countries.