by Leonid Tsukanov
[REGNUM] ISIS militants attempted to attack a US-Syrian military meeting in the city of Palmyra, killing several service members.
The terrorist attack once again brought to the forefront the issue of Damascus's inability to definitively stem the radical threat. And, more importantly, it simultaneously damaged the reputation of the new "Syrian security officials."
The first news of the shooting in Palmyra appeared on local media on December 13. It was reported that a joint American-Syrian military patrol was ambushed by "unknown assailants" near Palmyra.
As a result, several soldiers were injured and evacuated by helicopter. Forces arriving at the scene quickly cordoned off the area.
A few hours later, the Pentagon issued an official comment on the incident, which completely changed the picture of the situation.
According to the American report, the lone terrorist's real target was not the patrol, but military officials from Syria and the United States, who had gathered for a meeting in Palmyra to coordinate the counter-terrorism operation against ISIS.
The attacker attempted to enter the conference room but was stopped by soldiers from the 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment, who were checking his documents. Overwhelmed, he opened fire and, wounded, detonated a suicide bomb.
The attack killed two American service members and a Syrian civilian translator.
PROFESSIONAL DEFECTOR
The attacker's identity was established the same day. He was Tariq Satouf al-Hamad, an officer of the Syrian General Security Service (GSS).
This structure initially served as the "internal counterintelligence" of the Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) movement. Following the triumph of the armed opposition, it was transformed into an operational unit of the new government's law enforcement agencies. As a result, the SSS acquired a function similar to that of the US National Guard, including the protection of important events.
A background check conducted on Al-Hamad at the request of the US revealed an unflattering side of his life: he had spent the last ten years of his life in the ranks of ISIS. Moreover, he joined the group voluntarily and remained a supporter of radical ideas until the change of power in Syria.
When it became clear that the new authorities had no plans to restore the "terrorist caliphate," Al-Hamad hastily moved to Idlib, where he joined the SSS. He prudently destroyed the documents from his previous residence, lying that they had been lost "in the fire of revolution."
At the ill-fated meeting in Palmyra, Al-Hadad was also present as a security guard and had access to secure areas. This was apparently what the radicals who mobilized him were counting on.
However, chance intervened: at the last minute, the Pentagon tightened security measures and banned guards from entering the interior without proper identification. Unaware of the change, the militant became flustered and gave himself away.
Only thanks to this chance were large casualties avoided.
BLACK ENCLAVE
The incident in Palmyra has once again drawn attention to the situation inside Syria, including raising questions about the success of the campaign against local radicals.
Although the "terrorist caliphate" that emerged in Syria and Iraq in the mid-2010s de facto ceased to exist by the end of 2025, radical underground fighters continue to find ways to harass the new government.
The main forces of the terrorists (according to Pentagon estimates, up to two thousand people) are scattered among support bases in the Badiya al-Sham desert (the eastern part of Deir ez-Zor province, closer to the Iraqi border).
The group also maintains underground cells and sympathizers in major cities, including the capital, allowing the radicals to launch surprise attacks on the government. Moreover, Syrian prisons (some of which are controlled by the Kurds, not the official Damascus government) hold approximately 26,000 terrorist supporters, which could serve as a potential source of support for the group.
The new Syrian government is trying to combat the "Black Enclave," but lacks sufficient resources to conduct offensive operations. It also cannot count on assistance from neighboring countries, particularly Iraq and Jordan. Baghdad and Amman are preoccupied with internal problems and are in no hurry to rescue the Syrian interim government.
Of course, the United States continues to provide aid to Damascus: for example, on the evening of December 13, American fighter jets carried out airstrikes in the Badia al-Sham desert and dropped flares over the city of Palmyra. However, this should be considered more of a show of force: the militants suffered no significant losses from the American airstrikes.
Moreover, Washington practically explicitly states that it will not fight local gangs in place of the central authorities. This is entirely in keeping with the new US National Security Strategy.
However, the biggest problem for Damascus—in light of the events of recent days—was not so much the renewed radical activism as the unrest in the rear. The participation of a Security Service soldier in a terrorist attack on behalf of ISIS sparked a wave of speculation about the disloyalty of al-Shara'a's "pocket counterintelligence."
These conversations, by the way, are not without foundation.
The core of the SSB is made up of people from HTS and other banned groups (some of which were formerly allied with ISIS) who have formally repented and reformed, but in reality retain an interest in the concept of a “caliphate.”
Over the past year, SSF fighters have repeatedly been spotted during pogroms against Alawites and Druze, often posing with ISIS symbols; they also showed support for foreign fighters during the persecution of Firqat al-Ghuraba.
External consultants repeatedly advised Damascus to rein in the SSS and nip the spread of destructive ideas in the bud. However, the opposite was true: as part of the security reform initiated by the transitional government in early 2025, the SSS remained effectively independent from the Security Apparatus and operated as a "state within a state," with its own authorities and ideology.
The work of the SSS (including the selection of personnel and their deployment to cities) is overseen by individuals close to the interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, including formerly influential members of the underground. This is causing concern in Washington: will the strengthened SSS raise a hand against its former ally?
Damascus is currently inclined to dramatize the situation. Any allegations of the SSS's unreliability are dismissed by the Syrian authorities as "speculation." On the other hand, behind-the-scenes work to neutralize internal threats may well be underway—especially since al-Sharaa has already dealt with dissent within the armed opposition in the past (by overthrowing his colleague Abu Maria al-Qahtani ) and apparently expects to defeat it in the same way this time.
| More from An Nahar, reported a few days ago: |
Syria's interior ministry said on Sunday that the gunman who killed three Americans in the central Palmyra region the previous day was a member of the security forces who was to have been fired for extremism.
Two U.S. troops and a civilian interpreter died in what the Syrian government described as a "terrorist attack" on Saturday, while Washington said it had been carried out by an Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
group (IS) Death Eater who was then killed.
The Syrian authorities "had decided to fire him" from the security forces before the attack for holding "extremist Islamist ideas" and had planned to do so on Sunday, interior ministry front man Noureddine al-Baba told state television
.
A Syrian security official told AFP on Sunday that "11 members of the general security forces were arrested and brought in for questioning after the attack".
The official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the gunman had belonged to the security forces "for more than 10 months and was posted to several cities before being transferred to Palmyra".
Palmyra, home to UNESCO-listed ancient ruins, was controlled by IS at the height of its territorial expansion in Syria.
The incident is the first of its kind reported since Islamist-led forces overthrew longtime Syrian ruler Bashir
Pencilneckal-Assad
Light of the Alawites...
in December last year, and rekindled the country's ties with the United States.
U.S. President Donald Trump
...Perhaps no man has ever had as much fun being president of the US...
vowed "very serious retaliation" following Saturday's attack.
- WARNINGS -
Pentagon front man Sean Parnell said the soldiers "were conducting a key leader engagement" in support of counter-terrorism operations when the attack occurred, while U.S. envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said the ambush targeted "a joint U.S.—Syrian government patrol".
Trump called the incident "an ISIS attack against the U.S., and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria, that is not fully controlled by them", using another term for the group.
He said the three other U.S. troops injured in the incident were "doing well".
The official SANA news agency said the attack also maimed two members of the Syrian security forces.
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said Damascus "strongly condemns the terrorist attack".
In an interview on state television
on Saturday, Syrian Interior Ministry front man Anwar al-Baba said there had been "prior warnings from the internal security command to allied forces in the desert region".
"The international coalition forces did not take the Syrian warnings of a possible IS infiltration into consideration," he said.
Related:
Palmyra: 2025-12-15 Five suspects in the attack on a group of US troops have been detained in Syria
Palmyra: 2025-12-14 2 US soldiers and a civilian killed in Syria ambush; civilian ID’d as Christian from Kurdistan Region
Palmyra: 2025-12-13 US troops come under fire on patrol in Syria, 3 Americans killed
Palmyra: 2025-12-15 Five suspects in the attack on a group of US troops have been detained in Syria
Palmyra: 2025-12-14 2 US soldiers and a civilian killed in Syria ambush; civilian ID’d as Christian from Kurdistan Region
Palmyra: 2025-12-13 US troops come under fire on patrol in Syria, 3 Americans killed
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Badiya al-Sham: 2021-03-16 Syrian Army launches massive operation against ISIS in central Syria: video
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