On 13 September, a delegation of the coalition led by the United States, which was completing a joint patrol with Syrian security forces, came under fire in the central city of Palmyra, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).
The state agency reported in posts on Telegram that two members of the Syrian security forces and “several” American soldiers were wounded, while the perpetrator was killed.
It added that “for the time being there is no further information regarding the motives or the circumstances of the incident.”
Later, the pro government Syria TV reported that one of the two wounded Syrians succumbed to his injuries.
Earlier, a photograph circulated online that is said to show an American military helicopter evacuating wounded personnel from Palmyra to the al-Tanf base in southeastern Syria.
Other photographs and videos posted on social media show American soldiers and allied Syrian forces blocking the roads leading to Palmyra, as well as an American F-16 fighter jet flying at extremely low altitude over the city, likely to cover the evacuation operation.
SANA confirmed that traffic was halted on the Damascus, Deir Ezzor highway, which passes through Palmyra, as a result of the attack.
Saleh al-Hamoui, former commander of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist organization that overthrew the Assad regime last year and formed the current governmental, military, and police structures before dissolving, presented an entirely different version.
In a post on Telegram, al-Hamoui claimed that during the visit of the American delegation, the bodyguard of the head of the GSS in the area, Abu Jaber “Sufyan”, blew himself up.
He accompanied the post with a photograph showing the specific commander shaking hands with an American official at a previous meeting.
This was the first attack against American troops in Syria since the country joined the United States led coalition against ISIS last month.
Syria’s entry into the coalition followed a historic meeting on 10 November between United States President Donald Trump and Syria President Ahmed al-Sharaa, former leader of HTS, who until recently was under United Nations (UN) sanctions, at the White House.
The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on 30 November that its forces identified and destroyed more than 15 ISIS weapons storage sites in southern Syria, in cooperation with government forces, in the first joint operation of this kind.
The attack in Palmyra occurred one day after air traffic data revealed that coalition drones and intelligence aircraft began operating across Syria.
CENTCOM has not yet issued a statement clarifying exactly what happened. An inside attack would be particularly embarrassing for Damascus, a fact that raises suspicions that SANA may have distorted the events.
Activists and researchers have repeatedly warned of ISIS infiltration into Syria’s new military and police structures.
Damascus prioritized former members of HTS and its allies, including foreign fighters, maintaining strict Islamist ideology and excluding former officers and members of minorities.
As a result, these structures are dominated by radical elements, whether members of ISIS or not, who oppose the decision to join the coalition.
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