Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Four American soldiers killed by ISIS suicide bomb in Syria
FOUR American soldiers were killed in an ISIS suicide attack in northern Syria yesterday, weeks after Donald Trump claimed the terror group had been defeated.
The explosion hit a busy restaurant in the centre of Manbij, a strategically important city which is regularly patrolled by the Us-led coalition.
More than a dozen civilians were among the dead and three other US soldiers were also wounded.
IS claimed responsibility for the attack within an hour, saying the bomber had used a suicide vest.
Video of the explosion appears to show the bomb was detonated in a crowd, on a busy street. Other footage showed a US helicopter evacuating wounded people from the scene.
In a statement on Twitter, the Baghdad-based American HQ for the fight against the Islamic State said: “US service members were killed during an explosion while conducting a routine patrol in Syria today.” The deaths are the worst single loss of life for the US military in Syria since it first sent forces to fight IS four years ago.
On December 19, President Trump declared that the terror group had been defeated in Syria.
He tweeted: “We have defeated Isis in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency.”after declaring the battle won, Trump announced he wanted to withdraw his 2,000 American troops in 30 days.
His demands were condemned by concerned world leaders. Members of Trump’s own administration said US forces should remain in Syria as leverage in negotiations with President Bashar al-assad for an end to Syria’s war, to keep Iran from expanding its influence and to prevent a jihadist resurgence.
Following the soldiers’ deaths, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said:
“We will continue to monitor the ongoing situation in Syria.”
DECEMBER TWEET