A military investigation was unable to confirm that a Syrian guard based with U.S. troops in that war-torn country intentionally shot a Marine, U.S. Central Command said on Friday.
The Pentagon statement on the February incident appeared to dispute a report this week by the news outlet Task and Purpose that found the shooting was the first known “insider attack” in Syria.
The Syrian guard shot a Marine in the legs on a joint base in the Middle Euphrates River Valley where U.S. forces are partnering with local Syrian forces to eliminate the remnants of the Islamic State terror group.
“The incident was investigated by a team led by a U.S. Marine colonel who was unable to conclusively determine if a U.S. Marine was shot intentionally by a Syrian Democratic Forces guard, or if he was shot as the result of a negligent discharge,” U.S. Central Command said.
A negligent discharge would mean the Syrian fired his gun by accident instead of intentionally shooting a U.S. ally. Deliberate insider attacks have occurred in Afghanistan, but have been unheard of in Syria since the war against ISIS began in 2014.
A fellow Marine heard the shooting and witnessed the guard standing over his wounded comrade before shooting the Syrian to death, according to Task and Purpose, which interviewed troops involved. They believed it had been a deliberate attack.
The incident occurred after escalating tension between U.S. troops stationed at the small operating base and ethnic Kurdish fighters, who were angered over medical treatment being given to wounded civilians who were not Kurdish, the troops told Task and Purpose.
The military later awarded the Marine who shot the Syrian guard. The wounded Marine eventually recovered.
“The investigation also determined that a second Marine on the scene, believing himself to be in imminent danger, acted appropriately and proportionally to the threat he perceived,” the command said. “Those actions in the face of the perception of imminent danger, and the second Marine’s life-saving response to a fellow Marine’s injuries, led the lead investigator to recommend the second Marine to be commended for his actions.”
Central Command said the SDF forces also did an investigation and agreed with the findings.
The U.S. investigation has not been publicly released.
