ISIS attack in Syria kills 4 Americans

WASHINGTON — A suicide bombing claimed by the Islamic State killed at least 16 people, including two U.S. service members and two American civilians, in northern Syria on Wednesday, just a month after President Donald Trump declared that IS had been defeated and he was pulling out U.S. forces.

The attack in the strategic northeastern town of Manbij highlighted the threat posed by the Islamic State group despite Trump’s claims. It also could complicate what had already become a messy withdrawal plan, with the president’s senior advisers disagreeing with the decision and then offering an evolving timetable for the removal of the approximately 2,000 U.S. troops.

The attack, which also wounded three U.S. troops, was the deadliest assault on U.S. troops in Syria since American forces went into the country in 2015.

The dead included a number of fighters with the

Syrian Democratic Forces, who have fought alongside the Americans against the Islamic State, according to officials and the U.k.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

U.S. Central Command said one of the civilians killed was a Defense Department employee and the other was a contractor.

The attack prompted new complaints about the withdrawal and underscored Pentagon assertions that IS is still a threat and capable of deadly attacks.

In a Dec. 19 tweet announcing the withdrawal, Trump said, “We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency.” He said the troops would begin coming home “now.”

Over the past month, however, Trump and others have appeared to adjust the timeline, and U.S. officials have suggested it will likely take several months to safely withdraw American forces.

Not long after the attack Wednesday, Vice President Mike Pence repeated claims of the Islamic State’s defeat. Speaking at the State Department, Pence said the “caliphate has crumbled” and the militant network “has been defeated.” Later in the day, he released a statement condemning the attack but affirming the withdrawal plan.

“As we begin to bring our troops home, the American people can be assured, for the sake of our soldiers, their families and our nation, we will never allow the remnants of ISIS to re-establish their evil and murderous caliphate — not now, not ever,” Pence wrote. The names of the American victims were being withheld until their families could be notified.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Trump backer and prominent voice on foreign affairs on Capitol Hill, said during a committee hearing Wednesday he is concerned that Trump’s withdrawal announcement had emboldened the Islamic State and created dangerous uncertainty for American allies.

Ohio U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur assailed Trump's policy, saying his decision to announce a withdrawal “gave succor to and emboldened the enemy.”

In a statement that asserted that Trump and national security adviser John Bolton both “dodged the draft,” the Toledo Democrat said an American president “cannot Pence carelessly and unilaterally change strategy in a war zone, like Syria, without great risk to human life.” She said the loss of life "should heavily weigh on the conscience of the president based on his orders.”

Manbij is the main town on the westernmost edge of Syrian territory held by the U.s.-backed Syrian Kurds, running along the border with Turkey. Mixed Kurdish-arab Syrian forces liberated Manbij from IS in 2016 with help from the U.s.-led coalition.

But Kurdish control of the town infuriated Turkey, which views the main U.S. Kurdish ally, the YPG militia, as “terrorists” linked to Kurdish insurgents on its own soil. The withdrawal of American forces could expose the Kurds to Turkish attack.

The town has been at the center of tensions in northern Syria, with the militaries of two NATO members, the U.S. and Turkey, on opposing sides.