Three Americans were killed and three wounded on Saturday when an Islamist extremist opened fire at them at a meeting with the Syrian military in the unstable country’s eastern desert. Those killed included a civilian interpreter and two National Guardsmen from Iowa, while the wounded were also members of the Iowa Guard. The nature of the attack strains the already fragile relationship between American and Syrian forces and serves to remind Americans that an Islamist threat still lurks in eastern Syria.
Syrian Interior Ministry spokesman Noureddine al-Baba identified the assailant as Tarek Satouf al-Hamd, a member of Syrian security forces (the U.S. military had earlier said al-Hamd was a militant with the Islamic State). According to local sources, al-Hamd was the personal guard for the Syrian commander responsible for central Syria. He reportedly opened fire on the Americans “at the gate” of a Syrian command facility before America’s “partner forces” (the Syrians) killed him.
The attack came days after the Syrian military had flagged al-Hamd as a potential extremist. A December 10 evaluation indicated that al-Hamd “might hold extremist ideas,” al-Baba explained, and authorities had placed him on an internal post with plans to fire him on Sunday, the day after the attack.
Tragically, the Syrian army’s screening methods proved more accurate than their response was urgent. Perhaps al-Hamd caught wind of his poor evaluation and imminent firing, and this knowledge precipitated his decision to strike out at the only Americans within his reach.
Syrian authorities have launched an investigation into the al-Hamd incident. A security official said Sunday that “11 members of the general security forces were arrested and brought in for questioning after the attack.” Othersources put the number of those arrested at five (perhaps six were only questioned), with three suspected of involvement in the shooting.
Syria’s handling of the al-Hamd incident highlights a broader problem faced by the fledgling interim regime: the country’s security forces are laced with individuals holding radical Islamist views, and the new regime — itself comprised of former Islamist terrorists — has taken insufficient steps to root out Islamic extremists.
The problem is especially pronounced in the country’s eastern desert regions, known as Badiya. The area was a stronghold of the Islamic State until its defeat by U.S.-backed forces in 2019. ISIS enjoyed broad support among the region’s majority-Sunni inhabitants, and even the previous Assad regime — harassed by various groups of rebels in every quadrant of the country — lacked the power to drive out ISIS forces. “This area is too big, and the Damascus government is unable to control it,” said Kurdish commander Goran Tel Tamir.
Now, even the Assad-era checkpoints in the desert lie deserted, as the new regime has prioritized securing the country’s western urban centers. Palmyra, a town of 10,000, lies at the center of the sprawling wilderness, and it was near Palmyra that the ambush of American soldiers occurred.
In November of this year, the Syrian regime officially joined the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS. For its part, ISIS has denounced Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa as “a traitor to Islam.” However, the Middle East Forum assesses, “Syrian government troops have aided U.S. forces in a couple of limited operations against the Islamic State, but this cooperation falls far short of representing a genuine counterterrorism partnership.”
Thus far, the Trump administration has given the new Syrian administration the benefit of the doubt in its efforts to combat Islamist terrorism. President Donald Trump has built a personal relationship with al-Sharaa, a former leader of the Islamist terror organization Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
In the aftermath of Saturday’s attack, al-Sharaa issued a statement declaring that “Syria unequivocally condemns this attack and reaffirms its commitment to preserving stability and security in Syria and across the region.”
In a Truth Social post, President Trump directed blame away from the Syrian government. “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,” he said. “The President of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, is extremely angry and disturbed by this attack. There will be very serious retaliation.”
Since ISIS’s defeat during the first Trump administration, the U.S. has maintained a small military presence in eastern Syria of approximately one to two thousand troops (the number currently stands at 900). These forces engage in periodic operations to foil efforts by ISIS operatives to rebuild and rearm.
These anti-ISIS operations also involve the new Syrian regime. Between November 24 and 27, the U.S. military and Syrian Ministry of Interior cooperated to locate and destroy ISIS weapons caches at 15 sites, including “over 130 mortars and rockets, multiple assault rifles, machine guns, anti-tank mines, and materials for building improvised explosive devices,” U.S. Central Command announced.
The first Trump administration led an international coalition to dismantle the Islamic State, which claimed sovereignty over a wide swath of territory in Iraq and Syria. Eventually, those efforts led the extremist group to temporarily abandon its dream of holding territory, but that did not mean it went away. Like Islamic extremists before it, ISIS evolved into a global organization operating through terrorism and other guerrilla tactics. Even in Syria, although many of its fighters were captured, a great many also blended back into the surrounding populace, where they can resurface at any time.
As for the captured ISIS militants, nearly 50,000 are housed with their families in prisons managed by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the Kurdish group that governs northeast Syria. The Kurds were America’s allies in the war against ISIS, and their recognition of human rights and religious freedom is the best of any faction in Syria. Thus far, negotiations to unify the northeastern government with that in Damascus — run by members of what was a rival rebel group during Syria’s decade-long civil war — have not made significant headway.
America’s token presence in eastern Syria provides essential support to the Kurdish government, which otherwise faces hostile neighbors in ISIS, Damascus, and Syria’s new sponsor Turkey. The region’s security resources are already stretched to the limit by their responsibility to guard so many ISIS prisoners. This government both keeps alive the flame of freedom in the region and keeps the bulk of ISIS’s militant force where they can harm no one.
America’s token presence in the country also provides support to the beleaguered minorities in southern Syria, such as the Druze. These minorities are supported by Israel and have suffered violence at the hands of government-supported militias.
ISIS has already proven once that Islamist terror arising in Syria will not stay in Syria. It continues to inspire terror attacks around the world, even as far away as Australia.
America’s token force in the region plays a role both in maintaining the delicate balance of power that ensures American allies a seat at the table and, relatedly, in preventing a resurgence of ISIS. The ambush of six Americans serves as a reminder that (whether the perpetrator was affiliated with ISIS or not) the Islamic extremism that gave rise to ISIS remains a threat. The unexpected casualties may tempt some to urge further American withdrawal from the region. However, they instead illustrate the ongoing need for an American presence in Syria to provide stability and keep terror at bay.
