effectively been in charge of security. not a massive u.s. military presence on the ground overall, we re only talking about 2,000 u.s. troops that trump said will be pulled out of the country. although the timetable, as you pointed out, remains unclear in this area of northern iraq. it s where the u.s. along with kurdish allies almost every side in the war has occupied the town at one point or another. this was apparently part of a routine patrol by the service members caught up in the attack. we re waiting to hear the detalgs, but it appears to be a significant escalation. there s only been two u.s. soldiers who have been killed in syria since the u.s. deployment there. this is a significant moment. it comes exactly four weeks
here she was. reporter: we were down right by the front lines of the war against. isis today. this is near the iraqi boarder. the caliphate has not crumbled. it s nearing collapse. but there are several towns, there s fierce resistance and everyday fighting. there s still casualties on all sides happening every single day. there are a lot of sectarian and ethnic tensions bubbling beneath the surface here. and the minute you have a power vacuum, you can be sure that isis will be back. with me now is global affairs analyst susan glasser. good to see you. this is the worst attack we have seen in quite some time. this was a significant military presence in the city. can you tell me about the region and the role of the u.s. military there. this is essentially one of the enclaves that the u.s. had
since president trump tweeted that u.s.ist was defeated. and pence repeat ed that even a the first reports were coming out today. let me get to that. because you are exactly right. so we learned today when the president was over in iraq he was warned isis was not defeated. what the vice president said today, here he was. we are bringing our troops home. the caliphate has crumbled and isis has been defeated. so let me update that. we have a statement from the vice president on the attack thank iing the courage of our armed forces and. condemning the terrorist attack. we will never allow the remnant s to reestablish their evil caliphate, not now, not ever. but how do you reconcile if the
command has confirmed that four americans were killed in that suicide blast in syria. let s go to the pentagon and to our correspondent there barbara starr. reporter: this is the attack that took place earlier today in the northern syria. the horrifying video emerging of the blast and the aftermath. we now know from the united states military four americans were killed. there were two u.s. service members. there was a defense department civilian employee, pert in intelligence and security and a dod contractor. they had been going to what the military is now calling a local engagement. earlier they said 24ethey were routine patrol. that appears not to be the case. they were going somewhere when you hear the phrase local engagement, it means they were going to meet with local people perhaps to gather information
basically blind side d the republican leader mitch mcconnell that we are in the situation to begin with. to be continued. dana bash, thank you very much. i want to get to syria now. american service members have been killed. today in a blast carried out by a suicide bomber. i istist has claimed responsibility. some of the video of the explosion you re about to see is graphic. but this is the first major attack inside syria since president trump shocked the world less than a month ago when highway he announced plans to withdraw troops from there. the turkish president says today s attack will not change trump s decision. i talked to the chief international responsibility clarissa ward who visited the front lines two days ago.