US soldiers killed by Isis in Syria, just weeks after Trump said ‘we have defeated’ terror group in country

Attack targeted US coalition forces at restaurant in flashpoint city

A suicide attack claimed by Isis has killed two US soldiers, and two other Americans working with the US-led coalition in northern Syria.

The Pentagon said a Defense Department civilian and a contractor lost their lives in the attack, along with the soldiers, which also killed more than a dozen civilians.

The blast hit a busy restaurant in the centre of Manbij, a strategically important city which is regularly patrolled by the US-led coalition. Three US soldiers were also wounded.

Isis claimed responsibility for the attack within an hour, saying the perpetrator had used an explosive vest. A spokesperson for the US-led coalition said in a statement US service members “were killed during an explosion while conducting a routine patrol in Syria today”, without giving further details.

The attack represents the worst single loss of life for the US military in Syria since it first sent forces to fight Isis in 2015. A total of eight US service members have lost their lives fighting in the country.

The news of the deaths comes just weeks after US president Donald Trump declared that the terror group was defeated in Syria, and that the 2,000 US troops stationed in the country would be leaving.

“We have defeated Isis in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump presidency,” the president wrote on Twitter on 19 December.

Footage of the explosion shared on social media appears to show that it was detonated in a crowd, on a busy street. Another video showed a US helicopter evacuating wounded from the site of the attack.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said that the president had been “fully briefed” and was following developments.

“Our deepest sympathies and love go out to the families of the brave American heroes who were killed today in Syria,” Ms Sanders added in a later statement.

“We also pray for the soldiers who were wounded in the attack. Our service members and their families have all sacrificed so much for our country”.

Mr Trump’s abrupt withdrawal announcement last month caught officials within his own administration off-guard, and led to the resignation of defence secretary Jim Mattis.

Critics of the pullout argued that leaving so quickly could damage the fight against Isis, which was not yet over, and leave Washington’s Kurdish allies vulnerable to attack from Turkey.

Commenting on the attack on Wednesday, Republican senator Lindsay Graham said the withdrawal announcement had “set in motion enthusiasm by the enemy we’re fighting”.

“I hope the president would look long and hard about what we’re doing in Syria,” he added.

However, vice president Mike Pence said that while he and Mr Trump condemned the attack, the US would continue with its plan to withdraw troops from the country.

“Thanks to the courage of our armed forces, we have crushed the Isis caliphate and devastated its capabilities. As we begin to bring our troops home ... We will never allow the remnants of Isis to re-establish their evil and murderous caliphate,” Mr Pence said in a statement.

Manbij, where Wednesday’s attack took place, has been at the centre of a power struggle between those Kurdish allies and Turkey. The city is controlled by fighters linked to the Syrian Democratic Forces – a Kurdish-led militia that has fought alongside the US against Isis.

But Ankara views the group as terrorists, and has threatened to launch an attack to remove the group from all the areas it controls in Syria along the border it shares with Turkey. Following Mr Trump’s announcement that US forces would withdraw from Syria, the town has been bracing for a long-threatened Turkish incursion.