ISIS has claimed responsibility for a deadly explosion that resulted in several reported casualties in a Syrian city where US soldiers are deployed in the area, a militia controlling the city and a UK-based monitoring group said Wednesday.
Several causalities were reported after a bomb exploded in a Syrian city where US soldiers are deployed in the area, a militia controlling the city and a UK-based monitoring group said Wednesday.
A spokesperson for Operation Inherent Resolve tweeted Wednesday that the coalition is “still gathering information” about the explosion but that U.S. service members were killed while conducting a routine patrol.
The ISIS-affiliated Amaq agency said the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber with an explosive vest.
“An explosion in Manbij’s busy market street, initial reports of casualties,” Spokesman of the Manbij military council Shervan Darwish wrote on Twitter.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human rights said at least eight people were killed.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said Trump has been briefed on the situation.
The attack comes less than a month after President Donald Trump announced that US troops would withdraw from Syria. In making his announcement, Trump declared in avideo released on Twitter: “We have won against ISIS. We’ve beaten them and we’ve beaten them badly. We’ve taken back the land and now it’s time for our troops to come back home.”
Last week, the US began withdrawing some military ground equipment from Syria, according to an administration official with direct knowledge of the operation.
