The Department of the Army on Monday identified two Iowa National Guard soldiers who were killed in Palmyra, Syria.
Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, Iowa, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, Iowa, were killed Saturday while supporting Operation Inherent Resolve.
Torres-Tovar and Howard were assigned to 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division of the Iowa National Guard.
The Army said the incident remains under investigation.
"The Ministry of Interior confirms that targeting state institutions will not go unanswered, and that the security apparatus possesses full readiness and high capability to strike with an iron fist against anyone who threatens the security and stability of the country, and to pursue terrorist organizations wherever they may be found," read a statement from the government in part.
"These are Americans not only on the ground to fight and defeat ISIS on behalf of the whole world, but I've worked with Task Force Armadillo and the folks stationed at [Al-Tanf Garrison] before," said Mouaz Moustafa, the executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, on "Fox & Friends Weekend."
"They've helped save lives of babies and mothers besieged by Assad, Iran, Russia, and ISIS. So, these were angels."
President Donald Trump told reporters Sunday at the White House there will be "a lot of damage done to the people that did it."
"They got the person, the individual person. But there will be big damage done," he said.
Syria joined the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS in November during al-Sharaa's historic visit to the White House, the first official visit by a Syrian president to Washington, D.C.