Two Iowa National Guard members and a U.S. civilian interpreter were killed Dec. 13 in an attack in the Syrian desert that the Trump administration has blamed on the Islamic State group. The slain National Guard members were among hundreds of U.S. troops deployed in eastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting IS.

President Donald Trump said the U.S. will retaliate after three U.S. military personnel — two Army soldiers and a civilian interpreter — were killed by a suspected Islamic State attacker. The U.S. military said the attacker targeted a convoy of American and Syrian forces.

The Syrian government did not comment directly on the extensive U.S. strikes targeting the Islamic State on Friday but said it was intensifying its own efforts to fight the group.

Two soldiers injured in an attack by ISIS gunmen in Palmyra, Syria, returned to the United States, according to the Iowa National Guard.

EADaily, December 20th, 2025. US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced the launch of an anti-terrorist operation in Syria in response to the recent attack on the US military in Palmyra.