Four Americans among 19 reported killed by Islamic State suicide attack on troops in Syria, weeks after Donald Trump claimed victory
- The suicide bombing in Manbij killed two US troops and two American civilians working for the US military
A bomb attack claimed by Islamic State killed two US troops and two American civilians working for the US military in northern Syria on Wednesday, weeks after President Donald Trump said the group had been defeated there and that he would pull out all American forces.
The attack in Manbij appeared to be the deadliest on US forces in Syria since they deployed on the ground there in 2015. The town is controlled by a militia allied to US-backed Kurdish forces.
The US military confirmed four Americans were killed and said three US troops were wounded in the explosion, which an Islamic State-affiliated site said was the work of a suicide bomber.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said 19 people had been killed in all, including the four Americans.
It was unclear what impact the blast might have on Trump’s calculus after he confounded his own national security team with a surprise decision last month to withdraw all 2,000 US troops from Syria, declaring Islamic State had been defeated there.