TUNIS, December 14. /TASS/. The United States has deployed combat aircraft using lighting bombs after an attack by militants of the Islamic State terrorist group (IS, banned in Russia) on a Syrian-American patrol in Palmyra, Syria TV reported.

"American planes dropped lighting bombs in the sky over the city," the TV channel said.

Earlier, SANA news agency reported that a man opened fire on the Syrian and American military during their joint patrol of the territory. The attacker was killed on the spot. According to the Pentagon, two US military personnel and one American translator were killed and several people injured.

Traffic on the Deir ez-Zor-Damascus highway was suspended. American helicopters arrived at the scene to evacuate the injured to the US and Western coalition military base near the city of Al-Tanf (250 km off Damascus).

The United States has been actively reducing its military contingent in Syria since the beginning of the year. The main American forces are currently concentrated in the Kurdish-controlled regions of northeastern Syria and in the south, near the border with Iraq and Jordan. The United States continues to coordinate operations with the Syrian security forces against the remaining cells of the IG terrorist group.