Syria arrests five suspects over shooting of US, Syrian troops in Palmyra

Syria has arrested five people suspected of having links to the shooting of US and Syrian troops in the central Syrian town of Palmyra on Saturday, the interior ministry said on Sunday.

Two US Army soldiers and a civilian interpreter were killed by an attacker who targeted a convoy of American and Syrian forces before being shot dead. The Syrian interior ministry has described the attacker as a member of the Syrian security forces suspected of sympathizing with ISIS.

The attack was barely a month after Syria announced it had signed a political cooperation agreement with the US-led coalition against ISIS, which coincided with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s visit to the White House.

“Our units carried out a precise and decisive security operation in the city of Palmyra, following a cowardly terrorist attack carried out yesterday by an individual affiliated with [ISIS],” Syria’s interior ministry said in a statement.

“The operation was conducted in full coordination with the General Intelligence Service and international coalition forces, and resulted in the arrest of five suspects, who were immediately referred for questioning.”

Three US soldiers were wounded in the attack, the US military’s Central Command said. Syrian state news agency SANA said two Syrian service personnel were also injured.

Syria’s interior ministry said it had assessed the assailant just days before the attack and concluded he might have extremist views. A decision about his future had been pending.

The US-led coalition has carried out airstrikes and ground operations in Syria targeting ISIS suspects in recent months, often with the involvement of Syria’s security forces. Syria last month also carried out a nationwide campaign arresting more than 70 people accused of links to the group.

The United States has troops stationed in northeastern Syria as part of a decade-long effort to fight ISIS, which held swathes of Syria and Iraq from 2014-2019.

Syria’s government is now led by former opposition forces who toppled leader Bashar al-Assad last year after a 13-year civil war, including members of Syria’s former al-Qaeda branch who broke with the group and clashed with ISIS.