Hailing tragic heroes

Prez cites 4 Americans killed in ISIS blast

President Trump on Thursday offered his “deepest condolences” to the families of four Americans — including two military service members — killed by an ISIS suicide bomber in Syria.

“I want to take a moment to express my deepest condolences to the families of the brave American heroes who laid down their lives yesterday in selfless service to our nation,” Trump said in his first public comments about Wednesday’s attack.

“These are great people, great, great people. We will never forget their noble and immortal sacrifice,” he added during an address at the Pentagon about the US missile-defense program.

Two American soldiers, a De- fense Department civilian and a military contractor were among 19 people killed in an explosion while on patrol in Manbij.

The names of the American victims were withheld until their families could be notified.

The attack came less than a month after Trump, declaring that ISIS had been defeated, ordered the 2,000 US troops in Syria to be withdrawn — a decision that led James Mattis to resign as secretary of defense in protest.

Facing criticism that Washington was abandoning its local Kurdish allies amid threats of an attack by Turkey, Trump later said the pullout would take place more gradually.

Meanwhile, the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces vowed on Thursday to step up attacks on ISIS.

“With the help of the [US-led] coalition, we will escalate our military operations to eliminate [ISIS] remnants and chase down their sleeper cells,” the SDF alliance, led by the Kurdish YPG militia, said in a statement.

Syrian activists also reported intense airstrikes on the last area held by ISIS in the country’s east.