Army Names 2 Iowa Guard Members Killed in Syria

The two Iowa National Guard members killed in a weekend attack in Syria that the US military blamed on the Islamic State group were identified Monday. The US Army named them as Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, the AP reports. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds ordered flags in Iowa to fly at half-staff in their honor.

• "Sgt. Howard and Sgt. Torres-Tovar served our state and nation with honor, and in doing so, gave the ultimate sacrifice. We are grateful for their service and deeply mourn their loss," Reynolds said, per the Des Moines Register. "Kevin and I offer our prayers and condolences to their families and ask that Iowans stand united in support of them during this difficult time."

• Howard was the son of Meskwaki Nation Police Chief Jeff Bunn. "He loved what he was doing and would be the first in and last out, no one left behind," Bunn said, per the Times-Republican. "Please pray for our soldiers all around this cruel world. We will see you again son, until then we have it from here." Howard's widow, Arianna Howard, says he was "funny, smart, and an amazing husband." She says she is in "complete and utter shock" at the death of her husband, who was preparing to re-enlist for a 12th year.
• Relatives said Torres-Tovar, the first member of his family to serve in the military, was months away from coming home, the Register reports. "Thank you for your Service Son," his father wrote on Facebook. "You thought I was your (hero), now You are HERO to many."
• The Pentagon's chief spokesman, Sean Parnell, has said a civilian working as a US interpreter was also killed. Three other Guard members were wounded in the attack, the Iowa National Guard said Monday, with two of them listed as stable and the other in good condition.
• The attack was a major test for the rapprochement between the US and Syria since the ouster of autocratic leader Bashar Assad a year ago, coming as the US military is expanding its cooperation with Syrian security forces. Hundreds of American troops are deployed in eastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting IS.

• The shooting Saturday in the Syrian desert near the historic city of Palmyra also wounded members of the country's security forces and killed the gunman. The assailant had joined Syria's internal security forces as a base security guard two months ago and was recently reassigned amid suspicions that he might be affiliated with IS, a Syrian official said.
• The man stormed a meeting between US and Syrian security officials who were having lunch together and opened fire after clashing with Syrian guards, Interior Ministry spokesperson Nour al-Din al-Baba said Sunday. Al-Baba acknowledged that the incident was "a major security breach" but said that in the year since Assad's fall, "there have been many more successes than failures" by security forces.
• President Trump said over the weekend that "there will be very serious retaliation" for the attack and that Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa was "devastated by what happened," stressing that Syria was fighting alongside US troops.