Syrian authorities have arrested five people suspected of links to the shooting that killed two US soldiers and a civilian interpreter in the central Syrian town of Palmyra, the country’s Interior Ministry said on Sunday.
The attack occurred on Saturday when an assailant opened fire on a convoy involving American and Syrian forces before being shot dead. Syria’s Interior Ministry said the attacker was a member of the country’s security forces who was suspected of sympathising with Islamic State.
In a statement, the ministry said its units in Palmyra carried out a coordinated operation with “international coalition forces,” resulting in the arrest of five suspects who were immediately taken in for questioning.
The arrests come as Syria continues to cooperate with the US-led coalition fighting Islamic State. Last month, Syria reached a political cooperation agreement with the coalition during a visit by President Ahmed al-Sharaa to the White House.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the attack by phone with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani on Sunday. According to the US State Department, al-Shibani offered condolences and reaffirmed Syria’s commitment to confronting and eliminating the threat posed by Islamic State.
Syria’s Interior Ministry also revealed that the attacker had been assessed days before the shooting and was believed to hold extremist views, though a final decision regarding his status had not yet been made at the time of the attack.
The US-led coalition has intensified air and ground operations against Islamic State targets in Syria in recent months, often working alongside Syrian security forces. Syria also conducted a nationwide campaign last month, arresting more than 70 people accused of having links to the militant group.
The United States maintains troops in northeastern Syria as part of a decade-long mission to combat Islamic State, which controlled large parts of Syria and Iraq between 2014 and 2019.
Syria’s current government is led by former rebel factions that overthrew Bashar al-Assad last year, ending a 13-year civil war. Some of those factions previously broke ties with Al Qaeda and later clashed with Islamic State.