KEY POINTS
- The attack resulted in the deaths of two US soldiers and a civilian interpreter
- The Saudi Foreign Ministry extended condolences to the families of victims and to the governments of Syria and the United States
- Syria’s Interior Ministry said the attacker was a member of the security forces
- The attack marks the first such incident since the overthrow of former Syrian president Bashar Assad
- US President Donald Trump described the incident as a Daesh attack against both the United States and Syria.
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia on Sunday condemned the terrorist attack that targeted the security forces of Syria and the United States during a joint counterterrorism field patrol near Palmyra, resulting in casualties and injuries.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry, in a statement, extended the Kingdom’s condolences and sympathy to the families of the victims and to the governments of Syria and the United States, and conveys its heartfelt wishes for a speedy recovery to the injured.
#Statement | The Foreign Ministry expresses the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s condemnation of the terrorist attack that targeted security forces of the Syrian Arab Republic and the United States of America during a joint counterterrorism field patrol near Palmyra, resulting in… pic.twitter.com/AAKNa7dpol
— Foreign Ministry 🇸🇦 (@KSAmofaEN) December 14, 2025
Syria’s Interior Ministry said on Sunday that the gunman who killed three Americans in the central Palmyra region a day earlier was a member of the security forces who was due to be dismissed for extremist views.
Two US soldiers and a civilian interpreter were killed in the attack on Saturday. US Central Command said the assailant was an alleged Daesh (IS) militant who was subsequently killed.
Interior Ministry spokesman Noureddine Al-Baba told state television that authorities had decided to remove the attacker from the security forces for holding “extremist Islamist ideas” and were planning to do so on Sunday.
Palmyra, home to UNESCO-listed ancient ruins, was previously under Daesh control at the height of the group’s territorial expansion in Syria.
The incident is the first of its kind reported since Islamist-led forces overthrew longtime Syrian leader Bashar Assad in December last year, an event that led to renewed ties between Syria and the United States.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the soldiers were conducting a “key leader engagement” in support of counterterrorism operations when the attack occurred, while US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack described the incident as an ambush on a joint US-Syrian government patrol.
US President Donald Trump called the incident “a Daesh attack against the US and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria, that is not fully controlled by them,” using another term for the group.
