Attack On US Troops In Palmyra: Five Suspects Arrested In Syria Is ISIS Behind Ambush?-What We Know So Far

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Syria on Sunday arrested five suspects in connection with an attack on a military convoy that left American troops and a civilian dead in the town of Palmyra.

The arrests were announced by the country's interior ministry, as per a report by Reuters.

"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 the Islamic State," the ministry was quoted as 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," the statement added.

The arrests come after US President Donald Trump vowed to pursue“very serious retaliation”.

There will be very serious retaliation. Thank you for your attention to this matter!,” the US President had written on his social media platform Truth Social, commenting on the attack and providing and update on injured American troops.

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While an investigation is underway to determine whether the Palmyra attack was carried out by the Islamic State, Trump on Saturday had blamed the group.

“This was an ISIS attack against the U.S., and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria, that is not fully controlled by them. The President of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, is extremely angry and disturbed by this attack,” Trump had said.

It was not immediately clear whether the arrested suspects were linked to ISIS. As of writing this, the Islamic State had not claimed responsibility either.

The attack in Palmyra, which took place on 13 December, left two US soldiers and an American civilian interpreter dead, marking the first US casualties in Syria since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad a year ago.

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In addition, three US military personnel were injured in the attack, as well as at least two Syrian soldiers.

The lone gunman, meanwhile, was killed.

In the aftermath of the attack, US Central Command said that the gunman had been be a lone wolf from ISIS.

News agency AFP, however, reported that that the gunman had been part of Syria's security forces, citing the interior ministry.

US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth also corroborated the the AFP report, writing on 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.”

Following the attack, interior ministry spokesman Noureddine al-Baba told state television reported said on state television that Syrian authorities "had decided to fire" the perpetrator on Sunday for holding“extremist Islamist ideas”.

At the time, AFP had also reported citing unnamed interior ministry sources that 11 members of the country's general security forces had been arrested and brought in for questioning after the attack.

It was not immediately unclear whether the five arrests on Sunday were in addition to the 11.

The attack in Palmyra took place just over a month after Syria announced the signing of a political cooperation agreement with the US-led coalition against IS, which coincided with President Ahmed al-Sharaa's visit to the White House.

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