Syria’s government is scrambling to hunt down extremists after the deadly attack on US forces in the region of Palmyra. Two US soldiers and a civilian interpreter (a Christian from the Kurdistan region) were killed. The full details of the attack are still being investigated, with concerns that the perpetrators were able to gain access to and infiltrate Syrian security forces to carry out their attack. The attack puts at risk the nascent cooperation between Washington and Damascus. There will be calls in the US to either reduce cooperation or even end the US role in Syria.
Syria understands the importance of this time, and its new government wants to prove itself. Working with US forces would be seen as achieving a kind of gold standard for the new government’s security forces. The US has worked for a decade with the Syrian Democratic Forces in eastern Syria. That partnership has been phenomenal. Damascus has a lot to prove and this also affects the integration of the SDF into the new Damascus-backed security forces. If the US doesn’t feel secure with the Damascus forces, then the SDF won’t feel secure, either.
According to North Press, a media outlet in eastern Syria that covers the SDF, the “Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) on Monday strongly condemned what it described as a ‘terrorist attack’ targeting US forces in the city of Palmyra, calling it a ‘criminal act’ that undermines security and stability in Syria and the wider region. The Kurdish-led body also reiterated its call for the implementation of a March 10 agreement between Kurdish forces and Damascus as a key step toward restoring stability.”
What North Press notes is that “two US soldiers and a civilian were killed in an ambush in Syria’s central Homs province, while three other American troops and two members of Syrian security forces were wounded, according to the Pentagon and Syrian state media. The US personnel targeted in the attack were based at the al-Tanf military base, located near the tri-border area of Syria, Jordan, and Iraq. According to official sources, the team was in Tadmur (Palmyra), east of Homs province, for a meeting with Syrian armed forces affiliated with the defense ministry.”
Tanf is a US garrison in southern Syria where the US has trained Syrian Arab rebel groups. The group that was working with the US there was called the Syrian Free Army, which joined the new Damascus-backed 70th Division over the summer. Since then, the role of the US at Tanf and the SFA group that was there has been unclear. Until recently, US reports indicated elements of the 10th Mountain Division were at Tanf. It was not clear if that is still the case because a report in November 2024 said the deployment from Fort Drum was for nine months. A post over the summer also noted that elements of the Florida National Guard Task Force Lightning had practiced alongside the 10th Mountain’s Task Force Armadillo in Syria. The Tanf garrison is important for US influence in Syria; it is a natural place for US Central Command to find a way to work with Damascus because the US personnel had already formed a warm connection with local Arab forces who opposed the Assad regime.
SDF condemns attack on US forces in Syria
Damascus wants the growing connection with CENTCOM and with the US-led anti-ISIS coalition Operation Inherent Resolve to continue. Syria’s state media said that “Syria’s Interior Ministry said Sunday that its units have carried out a ‘qualitative and decisive security operation’” in the city of Palmyra following the ‘cowardly terrorist attack carried out a day earlier by an ISIS-affiliated operative.’”
Syria says its investigation will proceed with the Interior Ministry and General Intelligence Directorate examining what happened. Five people have already been detained. This “will not go unanswered,” Syria says. The US agrees, and US President Donald Trump has vowed retaliation. The Trump administration has invested in working with the new president of Syria, Ahmed al-Shara’a. Many countries are optimistic. However, some sectors are uneasy about what might come next. Israel has been very critical of the new government in Damascus, with some voices saying war is “inevitable” with Syria. The SDF is also concerned. The US and Syria will need to strengthen their ties and work to prevent further incidents.
The SDF-linked SDC is concerned that the attack near Palmyra “threatens the security and stability of Syria and the wider region, and serves the interests of extremism and chaos.” It should be noted that this area in the desert includes parts of the sprawling and large Homs governorate. This massive province in Syria covers an area stretching from the border with Lebanon all the way to Iraq. The province is, in fact, larger than Israel. As such, it is difficult to govern and secure.
“Syria strongly condemns the terrorist attack that targeted a joint Syrian-US counterterrorism patrol near Palmyra. We extend our condolences to the families of the victims and to the US government and people, and we wish the injured a speedy recovery,” Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al Shaibani wrote in a post on social media platform X.
Condemnation is the beginning. Now, Syria and the US have to pave the way forward in terms of security cooperation.