UPDATE [12:38 PM EDT]: In a breaking update, CNN is reporting that two U.S. Army soldiers have been killed, along with a civilian interpreter working with them. A statement on X released by Sean Parnell, chief spokesman for the Pentagon, confirmed the report, and added that three others were also injured. The incident is under investigation, he said:
Today in Palmyra, Syria, two United States Army soldiers and one civilian U.S. interpreter were killed, and three were wounded.
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellASW) December 13, 2025
The attack occurred as the soldiers were conducting a key leader engagement. Their mission was in support of on-going counter-ISIS / counter-terrorism…
The statement continued:
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.
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.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth also commented via X:
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.
original story
The Middle East has been a mess for over a thousand years now, and it sure doesn't look like things are getting any better. It's still one of the most unstable spots in the world. The latest illustration of this comes to us from Syria, where the nasty regime of the Assads is finally over - but things are still uncertain, and of course, the United States is involved in trying to hold a lid on the Islamic State terrorists operating in that country.
On Saturday, we learned that a joint U.S./Syrian patrol, on a mission to counter Islamic State terrorists, was ambushed near the town of Palmyra. Several were wounded, some reportedly seriously, although details are still sketchy.
A senior U.S. official confirmed to Fox News there have been multiple injuries after American service members were ambushed in Syria on Saturday.
The official added that some of the injuries were serious.
Two local Syrian officials earlier told Reuters that a convoy of U.S. and Syrian forces fighting the Islamic State terrorist group was targeted while on patrol in the central town of Palmyra.
Palmyra is located in central Syria, and it's an area with great historical significance. In the Syrian civil war, the area was fought over and changed hands several times; when the Islamic State controlled the city, they destroyed several historic sites, including the tomb of Mohammed bin Ali, a descendant of a cousin of the Islamic prophet Mohammed, as well as the tomb of Nizar Abu Bahaaddeine, a 16th-century Sufi scholar. They also destroyed the ancient Canaanite temple of Baalshamin.
Islamic State terrorists do frequently seem to act like feral dogs; if they can't eat it or carry it away, they destroy it.
The American military and the CIA reportedly are operating in that area to help the new Syrian government get things under control:
The Department of War had told Fox News Digital that "we are aware of reports," but added that it had "nothing additional to provide at this time."
"The United States, CIA and military forces are reportedly deeply involved in securing and stabilizing the situation in Syria," Dan Diker, president of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, recently told Fox News Digital.
We might very well ask what the U.S. has to gain from this.
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At present, we reportedly have around 1,500 troops in Syria.
As of June, the U.S. had about 1,500 troops left in Syria following withdrawals and consolidations ordered by the Pentagon, and that number was expected to drop to just several hundred by the end of this year, according to Fox News Chief National Security correspondent Jennifer Griffin.
Griffin reported that the U.S. had eight bases in Syria to keep an eye on ISIS since the U.S. military went in to prevent the terrorist group from setting up a caliphate in 2014, although three of those bases have since been closed down or turned over to the Syrian Democratic Forces.
Dropping the number to zero sounds like a better plan. We can still support the new Syrian regime with air power without putting more U.S. servicemen on the ground in that... place.
This is a developing story. We'll update you as events warrant.
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