DAMASCUS: Two American troops and a civilian interpreter were killed in central Syria on Saturday after an alleged member of the Daesh group opened fire on a joint US-Syrian patrol, officials said. &ldquo;We mourn the loss of three Great American Patriots in Syria,&rdquo; US President Donald Trump said on his Truth Social platform, vowing &ldquo;very serious retaliation.&rdquo; Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the attack took place in Palmyra, home to UNESCO-listed ancient ruins and once controlled by Daesh during the height of its territorial expansion in Syria. The deadly attack had been &ldquo;an ambush by a lone Daesh gunman,&rdquo; who was &ldquo;engaged and killed,&rdquo; US Central Command said on X. Trump called it &ldquo;an Daesh attack against the US, and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria, that is not fully controlled by them.&rdquo; Three other injured US troops were &ldquo;doing well,&rdquo; Trump said. The soldiers &ldquo;were conducting a key leader engagement&rdquo; in support of counter-terrorism operations when the attack occurred, Parnell said, while US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said the ambush targeted &ldquo;a joint US&ndash;Syrian government patrol.&rdquo; The deceased troops&rsquo; identities would be withheld until after their families were notified, CENTCOM said. The incident is the first of its kind reported since the group overthrew longtime Syrian ruler Bashar Assad in December last year, and rekindled the country&rsquo;s ties with the United States. Trump said Syria&rsquo;s new President, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, who visited the White House last month, was &ldquo;extremely angry and disturbed by this attack.&rdquo; InfiltrationA Syrian military official who requested anonymity said that the shots were fired &ldquo;during a meeting between Syrian and American officers&rdquo; at a Syrian base in Palmyra. A witness, who asked to remain anonymous, said he heard the shots coming from inside the base. However, a Pentagon official speaking on the condition of anonymity told AFP that the attack &ldquo;took place in an area where the Syrian President does not have control.&rdquo; In an interview on state television, Syrian Interior Ministry spokesman Anwar Al-Baba said there had been &ldquo;prior warnings from the internal security command to allied forces in the desert region&rdquo; of a potential Daesh &ldquo;infiltration.&rdquo; &ldquo;The international coalition forces did not take the Syrian warnings of a possible IS infiltration into consideration,&rdquo; he said. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor, which has a vast network of sources inside Syria, the meeting came as part of an &ldquo;American strategy to strengthen its presence and foothold in the Syrian desert.&rdquo; SANA reported that helicopters had evacuated the wounded to the Al-Tanf base in southern Syria, where American troops are deployed as part of the Washington-led global coalition against Daesh. Last month, during Al-Sharaa&rsquo;s historic visit to Washington, Damascus formally joined the coalition. The group seized swathes of Syrian and Iraqi territory in 2014 during Syria&rsquo;s civil war, before being territorially defeated in the country five years later. Its fighters, however, still maintain a presence, particularly in Syria&rsquo;s vast desert. US forces are deployed in Syria&rsquo;s Kurdish-controlled northeast as well as at Al-Tanf near the border with Jordan.

Americas

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell says the attack occurs in Palmyra, home to UNESCO-listed ancient ruins, once controlled by Daesh during its territorial expansion in Syria.

US troops in Syria killed in alleged militant ambush

<p style='box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 2; padding: 0.2rem 0px 0.8rem; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "AP Font", "AP Font Local", Verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;' id="isPasted"><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; float: none; display: inline !important;" id="isPasted">WASHINGTON:&nbsp;A man was taken into custody late Tuesday after driving his car into a security barrier outside the White House, authorities said.<p style='box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 2; padding: 0.2rem 0px 0.8rem; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "AP Font", "AP Font Local", Verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;'>The US Secret Service said the man crashed into the security gate at a White House entrance at 10:37 p.m. on Tuesday. The man was immediately arrested by officers from the Secret Service&rsquo;s uniformed division, the agency said.<p style='box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 2; padding: 0.2rem 0px 0.8rem; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "AP Font", "AP Font Local", Verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;'>Investigators searched his car and deemed it to be safe, Secret Service officials said in a statement.<p style='box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 2; padding: 0.2rem 0px 0.8rem; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "AP Font", "AP Font Local", Verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;'>Authorities did not immediately provide any additional information about the crash, the driver&rsquo;s identity or any potential motivation.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's husband George Akerlof at the East Wing of the White House in Washington, Jan. 26, 2021, across from the Treasury building. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

A man was taken into custody after driving his car into a security barrier outside the White House.

Man taken into custody after crashing car into security gate outside White House

STAVANGER: U.S. President Donald Trump&rsquo;s bid to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/explaining-netanyahu-trump-nobel-prize-nomination-bb3b0338b85226694ab7064b50f978c8" style="font-size: 18px; color: rgb(0, 115, 230);">win the Nobel Peace Prize</a> has drawn added attention to the annual guessing game over who its next laureate will be.&nbsp;Longtime Nobel watchers say Trump&rsquo;s prospects remain remote despite a flurry of high-profile nominations and some notable foreign policy interventions for which he has taken personal credit. Experts say the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nobel-prize-peace-literature-economics-chemistry-medicine-98860d60c271ee64833075af9654a534" style="font-size: 18px; color: rgb(0, 115, 230);">Norwegian Nobel Committee</a> typically focuses on the durability of peace, the promotion of international fraternity and the quiet work of institutions that strengthen those goals. Trump&#39;s own record might even work against him, they said, citing his apparent disdain for multilateral institutions and his disregard for global <a href="https://apnews.com/hub/climate-change" style="font-size: 18px; color: rgb(0, 115, 230);">climate change</a> concerns. Still, the U.S. leader has repeatedly sought the Nobel spotlight since his first term, most recently telling United Nations delegates late last month, &ldquo;everyone says that I should get the Nobel Peace Prize.&rdquo; A person cannot nominate themselves.&nbsp;<h4 style="text-align: justify;">Public lobbying campaigns but a private committee decision</h4>Trump&rsquo;s boasts and previous high-profile nominations make him the blockbuster name on the list of bookmakers&rsquo; favourites. But it&#39;s unclear whether his name comes up in conversation when the five-member Nobel committee, appointed by Norway&rsquo;s parliament, meets behind closed doors. Trump has been nominated several times by people within the U.S. as well as politicians abroad since 2018. His name also was put forth in December by U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY), her office said in a statement, for his brokering of the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/bahrain-israel-united-arab-emirates-middle-east-elections-7544b322a254ebea1693e387d83d9d8b" style="font-size: 18px; color: rgb(0, 115, 230);">Abraham Accords</a>, which normalized relations between Israel and several Arab states in 2020. Nominations made this year from <a href="https://apnews.com/article/explaining-netanyahu-trump-nobel-prize-nomination-bb3b0338b85226694ab7064b50f978c8" style="font-size: 18px; color: rgb(0, 115, 230);">Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu</a> and Pakistan&#39;s government occurred after the Feb. 1 deadline for the 2025 award. Trump has said repeatedly that he &ldquo;deserves&rdquo; the prize and claims to have <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-peace-wars-claim-fact-check-10128b26232e1d1eb9e68c5617320cf3" style="font-size: 18px; color: rgb(0, 115, 230);">&ldquo;ended seven wars.&rdquo;</a> On Tuesday, he teased the possibility of ending an eighth war <a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-war-news-09-30-2025-68afb24376d63fd0ff8fe8e1010ca178" style="font-size: 18px; color: rgb(0, 115, 230);">if Israel and Hamas agree to his peace plan</a> aimed at concluding the nearly two-year <a href="https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war" style="font-size: 18px; color: rgb(0, 115, 230);">war in Gaza</a>. &ldquo;Nobody&rsquo;s ever done that,&quot; he told a gathering of military leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia. &ldquo;Will you get the Nobel Prize? Absolutely not. They&rsquo;ll give it to some guy that didn&rsquo;t do a damn thing.&rdquo; <h4 style="text-align: justify;">Sustained peace efforts prioritized over quick wins</h4>Nobel veterans say the committee prioritizes sustained, multilateral efforts over quick diplomatic wins. Theo Zenou, a historian and research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, said Trump&#39;s efforts have not yet been proven to be long-lasting. &quot;There&rsquo;s a huge difference between getting fighting to stop in the short-term and resolving the root causes of the conflict,&rdquo; Zenou said. Zenou also highlighted Trump&rsquo;s dismissive stance on climate change as out-of-step with what many, including the Nobel committee, see as the planet&rsquo;s greatest long-term peace challenge. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think they would award the most prestigious prize in the world to someone who does not believe in climate change,&rdquo; Zenou said. &ldquo;When you look at previous winners who have been bridge-builders, embodied international cooperation and reconciliation: These are not words we associate with Donald Trump.&rdquo; <h4 style="text-align: justify;">Avoiding political pressure</h4>The Nobel committee was met with fierce criticism in 2009 for giving <a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-united-states-government-fd0fbcd09be746708be34c1b0bb95ed4" style="font-size: 18px; color: rgb(0, 115, 230);">then-U.S. President Barack Obama</a> the prize barely nine months into his first term. Many argued <a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-4835c234ac4b4c088e64b822b4e0c710" style="font-size: 18px; color: rgb(0, 115, 230);">Obama had not been in office</a> long enough to have an impact worthy of the Nobel. And Trump&rsquo;s own outspokenness about possibly winning the award might work against him: The committee won&rsquo;t want to be seen as caving in to political pressure, said Nina Gr&aelig;ger, director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo. Trump&rsquo;s prospects for the prize this year are &ldquo;a long shot,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;His rhetoric does not point in a peaceful perspective.&rdquo; The Nobel announcements begin Monday with the medicine prize. They continue with the physics prize on Tuesday, chemistry on Wednesday and literature on Thursday. The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced Friday and the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences on Oct. 13. &nbsp;

U.S. President Donald Trump’s bid to win the Nobel Peace Prize has drawn added attention to the annual guessing game over who its next laureate will be

Articles tagged with "America"

US troops in Syria killed in alleged militant ambush

Man taken into custody after crashing car into security gate outside White House

Experts say Trump unlikely to win Nobel Peace Prize