Two members of the Iowa National Guard were killed in what’s being called an ambush by a lone ISIS gunman in Syria.
In addition to the two soldiers, a civilian linguist was also killed. Three other soldiers were wounded. The gunman was killed in the attack.
The names of those killed and wounded have not been released.
The soldiers were part of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division currently serving in the Middle East.
"I can tell you first hand that this is a family. I've seen them close up working together in any number of challenging situations and they share a deep bond. Today's attack and the loss of two of their own weighs heavily on everyone at every level," said Governor Kim Reynolds.
1,800 members of the Iowa National Guard deployed this past summer to Syria as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the military’s name for the international effort to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
President Donald Trump said Saturday that “there will be very serious retaliation.”
“This was an ISIS attack against the U.S., and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria, that is not fully controlled by them,” he said in a social media post.
Trump said the three Iowa soldiers also wounded in the attack “seem to be doing pretty well.”