American is killed in Syria explosion
An American service member was killed Thursday by an improvised explosive device in Syria, a U.S. military official confirmed, marking the second American killed in action there since the United States began backing local forces in a conflict President Donald Trump has vowed to leave.
The attack occurred during an operation against the Islamic State that also left a British service member dead, underscoring the risks the U.S.-led coalition faces across northern and central Syria as it transitions from fighting the militant group to stabilizing areas the group left behind.
The Pentagon declined to release the nationalities and identities of the two service members killed, pending notification to next of kin, but a U.S. military official confirmed that one was American. Britain’s Ministry of Defense said one of its military personnel was killed in Syria in an operation against the Islamic State. Five others were injured.
The deaths occurred about two hours after Trump promised in a speech in Ohio to withdraw the roughly 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria “very soon” and “let the other people take care of it.”
The president has been agitating for the removal of U.S. troops from Syria, saying it makes little sense for the United States to have so many forces in the country if it has all but won the war against the Islamic State.
A senior administration official said Trump has requested pullout plans and has had conversations with chief of staff John Kelly and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis about the matter, in which they have offered reassurances that the United States will not have to stay in the country forever.
The president’s advisers have convinced him to stay for now to prevent the Islamic State from reemerging and to lay the groundwork for a potential peace agreement that would be beneficial to the United States, according to people familiar with the discussions, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive military discussions. Still, with the help of Russia and Iran, Syrian government forces have been gaining the upper hand in the broader civil war, reducing the likelihood of any such agreement.
Officials had not planned for Trump’s announcement at the rally in Ohio, and it was not clear what prompted him to include the matter in a speech about infrastructure. One administration official described it as “premature” and said it could be a year or longer before such a move happens. Trump was briefed on the death of soldiers after the rally, an administration official said.
The discussions come as the U.S. military faces a crossroad in Syria. The Kurdish-dominated militia that U.S. forces have been supporting has rolled back nearly all of the territory once occupied by Islamic State, helping Washington achieve its primary mission on the ground. The militants are regrouping in a final pocket of eastern Syria.