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A fatal attack in the heart of Syria on Saturday resulted in the deaths of a pair of American troops and a US civilian translator, with several other people wounded, according to the Pentagon.

This offensive on American forces in the historic city of Palmyra represents the first incident to inflict casualties since the ouster of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad roughly a year prior.

"This assault occurred as the soldiers were carrying out a high-level meeting," a Pentagon spokesperson said. "Their mission was in support of ongoing counter-ISIS / counter-terrorism operations in the region."

The assailant responsible for the shooting was eliminated by allied troops, according to a statement from the Secretary of Defense.

Specifics Kept Private For Privacy

Central Command noted that, as a matter of respect for the families and in line with standard procedure, the identities of the fallen service members will not be released until 24 hours after their next of kin have been notified.

Earlier reports from local news agencies and a war monitor stated that gunfire erupted during a visit by US soldiers to the area of Palmyra.

Conflicting Accounts Surface

According to a government news agency, two members of local security forces and several US service members were wounded in the exchange. Those hurt were allegedly evacuated by aircraft to a garrison near the frontier with Iraq and Jordan.

An official for Syria's interior ministry claimed a gunman linked to ISIS began shooting at the entrance of a army position. Authorities are looking into whether the assailant was a formal member of the organization or merely espoused its extreme ideology.

The official also denied a claim from a UK-based monitoring group that the attacker was a member of the security forces.

Ongoing American Deployment in the Region

The US currently has hundreds of troops deployed in eastern Syria as part of a multinational alliance combating the ISIS militant group.

Despite being militarily routed in the country in 2019, the group's sleeper cells still execute deadly attacks. UN estimates indicate the faction still has thousands of fighters in both Syria and Iraq.

US troops have previously been targeted in the before. One of the most severe previous attacks occurred in that year in the north, when an explosion claimed the lives of two US service members and US civilians, among additional casualties.