STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Three members of the U.S. military were killed in Syria on Sunday in an ambush by an ISIS attacker. Other Americans and Syrians were wounded, all of which happened about a year after Syria's civil war ended with rebels in charge. Correspondent Jane Arraf was recently in Syria, joins us from Amman, Jordan. Hi there, Jane.
JANE ARRAF, BYLINE: Hi, Steve.
INSKEEP: What is the area like where this happened?
ARRAF: Well, it's desert. It's near Palmyra, which is the center of the fight against ISIS, which, as you recall, was defeated a few years ago but is still hanging in there. Syria said the attacker is now believed to be affiliated with ISIS, but he had actually joined Syrian security forces two months ago.
INSKEEP: Oh.
ARRAF: And, Steve, the attack took place at the entrance of a military outpost out in the desert where Syrian and American commanders in the area were meeting. The dead were U.S. soldiers and a civilian American interpreter. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the attacker was killed by Syrian forces, and Syria is investigating whether this guy was a lone wolf or an ISIS operative, but ISIS hasn't claimed responsibility.
INSKEEP: OK. How have American and Syrian leaders responded?
ARRAF: Well, President Ahmed al-Sharaa extended condolences to President Trump, and both U.S. and Syrian forces working together did a sweeping security operation in that area after the attack. Syria says the interior ministry arrested at least five people. And Trump wrote on social media there would be serious consequences over this. He didn't expand on that, though.
INSKEEP: Would you remind us what it is that U.S. forces are still doing in Syria?
ARRAF: Yeah. They've got about 2,000 troops there, and a lot of what they're doing is anti-ISIS operations. One of them, including the base that these U.S. forces would have been operating from, is in a remote corner near Jordan and Iraq in the Syrian desert called Al-Tanf where the U.S. operates with Syrian U.S. trained forces, but it also retains bases in Northeast Syria partnered with Kurdish-led Syrian forces. And there, it's fighting ISIS, but also protecting oil installations.
INSKEEP: Well, when you were in Syria just a few days ago, and, of course, you've been visiting there for many, many years, you were there for the one-year anniversary of the toppling of the old government. What was security like?
ARRAF: Well, Damascus was really calm, although odd because it was so celebratory 'cause of the anniversary.
INSKEEP: Yeah.
ARRAF: But there are lots of interior ministry forces, police everywhere. But there are more localized security issues in Syria. There's still ISIS, obviously, in some areas. And in some minority areas, it's much more tense, particularly in Alawite and Druze areas, where there have been mass killings, including killings of civilians. So, Steve, you'll recall that some government security forces were implicated in that. And President Sharaa, who's a former Al-Qaeda fighter who renounced the ideology, has pledged to prosecute those who were arrested in connection. There's also, on top of that, Israel launching frequent attacks and incursions in Southern Syria and the Golan. But I guess the key is they've had decades of dictatorship backed by Russian and Iranian forces, so it's not going to happen overnight, reasserting control.
INSKEEP: Yeah. It's like you're opening a lid. Jane, thanks so much.
ARRAF: Thank you.
INSKEEP: Correspondent Jane Arraf.
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