Attack comes after Trump said he would withdraw US troops as ‘we have defeated Isis’

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Two British special forces soldiers have been seriously injured in a missile attack by Islamic State in eastern Syria while fighting alongside Kurdish forces, according to reports.

The casualties are the first known injuries to coalition soldiers from the west in Syria since the US president, Donald Trump, said Isis had been defeated in the country and that American troops would be withdrawn.

The British soldiers were airlifted by US forces for medical treatment following the incident, which is thought to have happened on Saturday morning. One Kurdish fighter was also killed in the attack, according to reports.

Meanwhile, an Irish man is understood to be among five jihadists captured by coalition and Kurdish forces in Syria for fighting for Isis. A spokesman said they also included two US citizens and two Pakistanis and were captured in the east of the country. The Irishman is 45 years old and from Dublin, according to reports. Kurdish forces are believed to be holding hundreds of foreign Isis fighters in detention centres in the north of the country as well as their families.

Rudaw, a Kurdish news outlet, reported that the British soldiers had been hurt and the Kurdish fighter from the Syrian Democratic Forces had died in an attack on an SDF base in the town of Deir ez-Zor, in the east of the country.

An SDF official told the news agency: “Due to a smart missile attack by Isis, a fighter of the YPG [Kurdish militia] was killed and another wounded, in addition to two British soldiers.”

British special forces are believed to be on the ground in Syria. The Ministry of Defence said in a statement: “We do not comment on special forces.”

The UK has formed part of the US-led coalition carrying out airstrikes against Isis in Syria, where there are approximately 2,000 US troops.

In December, Trump said he was withdrawing US troops from Syria, claiming Isis had been defeated, although on Saturday a Trump official hinted that some troops might remain.

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Trump said: “We have defeated Isis in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump presidency.”

The announcement shocked US allies and American defence officials alike. The US defence secretary, Jim Mattis, and a top US official in the fight against Isis, Brett McGurk, resigned soon after.

Analysts and military experts, who disagree with Trump, have said the threat posed by Isis still remains in Syria and northern Iraq.

In March, a British soldier, Sgt Matt Tonroe of 3rd Battalion the Parachute Regiment, was killed by an IED while embedded with US forces during an operation in Manbij, Syria.