President Donald Trump signaled Sunday the US will do “big damage” to the militants behind a deadly attack on American forces in Syria that he blamed on the Islamic State.

DAMASCUS, Syria — Two US service members and one American civilian have been killed and three other people wounded in an ambush on Saturday by the Islamic State group in central Syria, the US Central Command said. The attack on US troops in Iraq is the first to inflict casualties since the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad a year ago.

The number of U.S. troops in the country has fluctuated and currently stands at around 900. They are mainly posted in the Kurdish-controlled northeast and at the al-Tanf base in the southeastern desert near the borders with Iraq and Jordan.

Sharaa’s efforts to unify the country and rebuild relationships with the international community, analysts say.

With Syria's new leadership emerging as a key U.S. partner, American troops in the country find themselves amid a complex pivot.