Syria arrests five suspects for shooting at US and Syrian troops in Palmyra

Syria has arrested five people suspected of links to the shootings of US and Syrian soldiers in the central Syrian city of Palmyra on Saturday, the interior ministry said on Sunday.

Two US Army soldiers and a civilian interpreter were killed by an attacker who targeted a convoy of US and Syrian forces before being shot dead. The Syrian interior ministry described the attacker as a member of the Syrian security forces suspected of sympathizing with Daesh.

Syria is working with a US-led coalition against Daesh, reaching an agreement last month when President Ahmed al-Sharaa visited the White House.

Syria’s Interior Ministry said its units in Palmyra carried out an operation in coordination with “international coalition forces” that resulted in the arrest of five suspects “who were immediately referred for questioning.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the attack by phone with Syrian Foreign Minister Assad al-Shibani on Sunday. Shibani “offered his condolences and reiterated the Syrian government’s commitment to degrade and destroy the common Daesh threat,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said.

Syria’s interior ministry said it had assessed the attacker days before the attack and concluded he may hold extremist views. A decision on his future was pending.

The US-led coalition has carried out airstrikes and ground operations in Syria targeting Daesh suspects in recent months, often involving Syrian security forces. Syria last month also carried out a nationwide crackdown, arresting more than 70 people accused of links to the group.

The United States has troops stationed in northeastern Syria as part of a decade-long effort to fight Daesh, which held swaths of Syria and Iraq from 2014-2019.

Syria’s government is now led by former rebels who ousted leader Bashar al-Assad last year after a 13-year civil war, including members of the former al-Qaeda branch in Syria who broke with the group and clashed with Daesh.