Three of the four Americans killed in a suicide bomb blast in Syria on Wednesday have been identified, including Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jonathan R Farmer, 37. Photo / US Army
Three of the four Americans killed in a suicide bomb blast in Syria on Wednesday have been identified, including Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jonathan R Farmer, 37. Photo / US Army
The Defence Department on Friday identified three of the four Americans who were killed Wednesday in a suicide bombing in Syria that was claimed by the Islamic State.
In a statement, the Pentagon named the three as Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jonathan R. Farmer, 37, of Boynton Beach, Florida; Navy Chief Cryptologic Technician (Interpretive) Shannon M. Kent, 35, of Upstate New York; and Defense Department civilian Scott A. Wirtz of St. Louis.
The fourth American, a civilian contractor, was not immediately identified.
The four were killed, and three other Americans were wounded, when a suicide bomber on foot detonated an explosive vest in front of a restaurant in the northern Syrian city of Manbij as they were meeting with local military officials, The Washington Post reports.
It was the largest loss of life in the Pentagon's war against Islamic State militants in Syria and a sign of the potent threat that the group still poses as the Trump administration begins to withdraw U.S. forces from the country.
The Pentagon said the Americans were supporting Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S.-led coalition battling the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.
Three of the four Americans killed in a suicide bomb blast in Syria on Wednesday have been identified, including Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jonathan R Farmer, 37. Photo / US Army
It said Farmer was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Kent was assigned to Cryptologic Warfare Activity 66, based at Fort Meade, Maryland. And Wirtz was an operations support specialist with the Defense Intelligence Agency.
Kent enlisted in the Navy in 2003 and served in assignments at Fort Gordon, Georgia, Norfolk, Virginia, and Washington, in addition to Fort Meade, the Navy said.
"She was a rockstar, an outstanding Chief Petty Officer, and leader to many in the Navy Information Warfare Community," Cmdr. Joseph Harrison, the head of her unit at Fort Meade, said in a statement.
Farmer, a married father of four, joined the Army in March 2005, officials said. He served on four overseas combat tours: Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2007 and 2009, Operation New Dawn in 2010, Operation Enduring Freedom in 2012 and Operation Inherent Resolve - his final mission - in 2018 and 2019.
Another victim of the terror attack was Navy Chief Cryptologic Technician (Interpretive) Shannon M Kent, 35. Photo / Facebook
He was trained in Fort Benning and attended the Special Forces Qualification Course. Farmer graduated in 2007 as a Special Forces engineer sergeant and was assigned to the 5th Special Forces Group, where he spent the rest of his career.
During his years of service, Farmer received numerous awards and decorations, including a Bronze Star Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters.
Wirtz served as a Navy SEAL for 10 years before joining the Defence Intelligence Agency in February 2017, a DIA spokeswoman said. The DIA said he completed three deployments for the agency in the Middle East.
The Pentagon said the suicide bombing in Manbij "is under investigation."
We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency.
President Donald Trump's surprise Dec. 19 announcement that the Islamic State had been defeated and U.S. troops would be coming home drew widespread criticism, including from Republican allies who warned that a premature American departure could allow militants to return.
After announcing his intention to withdraw all 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria, Trump also directed the Pentagon to pull out nearly half of the more than 14,000 troops deployed to Afghanistan. The move overrode warnings from senior advisers and military officials that such a withdrawal would plunge Afghanistan further into chaos.
In a separate announcement Friday, the Army's Special Operations Command said an Army Ranger, Sgt. Cameron A. Meddock, 26, of Spearman, Texas, died, Thursday of wounds he received during combat operations on Jan. 12 in Afghanistan's Badghis province.
Photos showed blood plastered along the restaurant's pillars when the smoke from the explosion finally settled. Photo / AP
Meddock served with Company A, 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, and was on his second deployment with the U.S.-led coalition. The announcement said he died in Landstuhl, Germany, "as a result of wounds sustained from small arms fire." It did not provide any details of the clash that led to his death.
