Trump marks return of US troops killed in Syria
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US President Donald Trump salutes, as members of the military carry a transfer casket from a C-17 transport plane on Dec 17, at Dover Air Force Base in the US state of Delaware.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
- Trump attended a ceremony at Dover Air Force Base for two US soldiers and a civilian killed in a Syria attack.
- The attack in Palmyra by an ISIS gunman killed Sergeant Howard, Sergeant Torres-Tovar, and interpreter Sakat, wounding three others.
- The US military is supporting Operation Inherent Resolve to combat ISIS, despite Trump's past calls for troop withdrawal.
AI generated
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump on Dec 17 attended a sombre ceremony marking the return of the bodies of two US soldiers and an American civilian who were shot dead in Syria over the weekend.
Mr Trump, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, top military officer General Dan Caine and other officials stood near a grey C-17 transport plane, saluting as three flag-covered cases were carried off the aircraft to a van by white-gloved troops.
US Central Command said a lone gunman from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group carried out the attack on Dec 13
Those killed were Iowa National Guard sergeants William Howard and Edgar Torres Tovar, and Ayad Mansoor Sakat, a civilian from Michigan who worked as an interpreter.
The US personnel were supporting Operation Inherent Resolve, the international effort to combat ISIS, which seized swathes of Syrian and Iraqi territory in 2014.
The militants were ultimately defeated by local ground forces backed by international air strikes and other support, but ISIS still has a presence in Syria, especially in the country’s vast desert.
Mr Trump has long been sceptical of Washington’s presence in Syria, ordering the withdrawal of troops during his first term but ultimately leaving American forces in the country.
The Pentagon announced in April that the United States would halve the number of US personnel in Syria in the following months, while US envoy for Syria Tom Barrack said in June that Washington would eventually reduce its bases in the country to one.
US forces are currently deployed in Syria’s Kurdish-controlled north-east as well as at Al-Tanf near the border with Jordan. AFP
