NEW YORK, December 14. /TASS/. The attack on a Syrian-American patrol near the city of Palmyra occurred while a US lieutenant colonel was meeting with a representative of the Syrian Interior Ministry, The Wall Street Journal reported citing sources.
According to their information, the patrol was guarding a meeting where countering the Islamic State terrorist group (IS, banned in Russia) was discussed. The attacker opened fire with a machine gun and was eliminated by the Syrian soldiers on the spot.
Earlier, Sean Parnell, assistant to the head of the Pentagon for Public Relations, confirmed the death of two US servicemen and one American civilian interpreter during the incident in Palmyra. All three were evacuated by American helicopters to the US and Western coalition military base in the Al-Tanf border area (250 km off Damascus).
According to the WSJ, after the attack, the United States lifted two F-16 fighter jets into the sky over Palmyra. The Syria TV channel reported that the United States had deployed combat aircraft using lighting bombs.