Two US-led coalition personnel killed in Syria as Trump signals possible withdrawal

BEIRUT — The U.S.-led coalition said Friday that two of its personnel had been killed and another five wounded in Syria by an improvised explosive device.

Col. Ryan Dillon, a spokesman for the coalition, declined to identify the nationalities of the service members, or to specify where in Syria the attack took place Thursday night. The coalition said in a statement that the wounded were being evacuated for medical treatment, and that the dead would be named at the discretion of their home authorities.

The incident underscored the risks facing coalition personnel across northern and central Syria as they transition from fighting the Islamic State to stabilizing areas that the militants left behind.

The U.S. has more than 2,000 service members in Syria, many of them working with a Kurdish-dominated partner force. 

Thursday’s attack appeared to have taken place in the northern city of Manbij, a former Islamic State stronghold that has become a critical flash point between Turkey and Kurdish fighters in Syria. While mutually antagonistic, both are key allies of the United States.

In an attempt to calm those tensions, U.S. forces conduct routine patrols in the area.

A local activist reported that an explosion had taken place in the city’s southern district, and that several helicopters appeared to have arrived to take away those affected.

In a surprise announcement Thursday, President Trump appeared to signal that those would be withdrawing from Syria in the near future. “By the way, we’re knocking the hell out of ISIS,” Trump said midway through an infrastructure speech in Ohio, using an alternate term for the Islamic State. 

“We’re coming out of Syria, like, very soon. Let the other people take care of it now. Very soon — very soon we’re coming out.” No further details were immediately available.

Dan Lamothe in Kabul contributed to this report.