US service members killed in Syrian explosion, US military says

John Bacon and Tom Vanden Brook and Kim Hjelmgaard
Updated

U.S. service members were among those killed Wednesday when a fiery explosion ripped through a market in the northern Syria town of Manbij, U.S. military officials said.

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack that took place less than a month after President Donald Trump declared victory over the militant group in the region.

"U.S. service members were killed during an explosion while conducting a routine patrol in Syria today," the military's Operation Inherent Resolve said in a statement. "We are still gathering information and will share additional details at a later time."

This frame grab from video provided by Hawar News, ANHA, the news agency for the semi-autonomous Kurdish areas in Syria, shows a damaged restaurant where an explosion occurred, in Manbij, Syria, Jan. 16, 2019. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Syrian war monitoring group, and a local town council said Wednesday that the explosion took place near a patrol of the U.S.-led coalition and that there are casualties.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based group that monitors the conflict in Syria, said the cause of the explosion was a suicide bomb outside a restaurant. The group said the attack killed seven people and wounded 10 others.

Reuters, citing an unidentified U.S. official, said four U.S. soldiers were killed and three wounded in a blast. The Kurdish Hawar news agency said at least three Americans had died.

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The White House said Trump has been fully briefed on the situation.

Manjib is controlled by the U.S.-backed Kurdish People's Defense Units. The explosion took place in a market wedged along a crowded street thick with cars. Video that Hawar identifies as from the scene shows people gathered on a crowded sidewalk when the fiery blast occurs.

A senior Kurdish security official told NBC News the U.S. forces were on foot in the city when they were approached by a man wearing civilian clothing with the explosives hidden underneath.

Since 2016, four U.S. troops had been killed in Syria before the latest attack, according to Pentagon records. Those troops were taking part in Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S.-led effort begun in 2014 to combat ISIS terrorists in Iraq and Syria.

Last month, Trump announced that the 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria would be withdrawn but did not give a timetable.

“We have won against ISIS.” Trump said then. “Now it’s time for our troops to come back home.”

Trump’s decision to withdraw American forces from Syria was one of the reasons for stepping down that former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis cited in his resignation letter last month. Mattis had urged Trump to maintain the U.S. presence there to aid Kurdish allies and to deter the Syrian and Iranian regimes.

After confusing signals from the Pentagon and the White House, officials announced last week that equipment had been removed from U.S. facilities in Syria and that all troops would withdraw within months.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: US service members killed in Syrian explosion, US military says