Syria condemns 'US village raid'
Unnamed US military official told AP special forces
targeted al-Qaeda linked militants moving across the
border
BBC , October 27,
2008
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See Article III.2
Initiating War Without a Declaration
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A woman apparently injured in the
attack (still taken from Syrian TV)
Syrian TV showed footage of a compound and
an injured woman.
Source: BBC /
Syrian Television
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Syria has protested angrily to both the US and Iraq
after what it said was a US helicopter raid inside
its territory that killed eight civilians.
Syria summoned US and Iraqi envoys to condemn the
"aggressive act". Iraq called the incident
"regrettable" and said it was considering
its response.
The US has neither confirmed nor denied the incident.
It has previously accused Syria of allowing militants
into Iraq.
Syria said the US helicopters attacked a farm in
the Abu Kamal border area.
If confirmed, the raid would be the first known attack
by US forces inside Syrian territory, says BBC diplomatic
correspondent Jonathan Marcus.
'Outrageous crime'
A Syrian government statement said: "Syria condemns
this aggression and holds the American forces responsible
for this aggression and all its repercussions."
It called for an immediate investigation.
A senior Iraqi foreign ministry official, Labib Abbawi,
said its charge d'affaires in Damascus had been summoned
and handed a note of protest.
Mr Abbawi said he hoped the incident did not "impact
negatively" on relations with Syria.
He said Iraq was trying to get more information from
the US.
Neither the Pentagon nor the White House has made
any official comment. A US military spokeswoman in
Baghdad said it was "in the process of investigating".
Syria's press attache in London, Jihad Makdissi,
told the BBC the incident was "an outrageous
crime and an act of aggression".
"If [the US has] any proof of any insurgency,
instead of applying the law of the jungle and penetrating,
unprovoked, a sovereign country, they should come
to the Syrians first and share this information,"
he said.
Mr Makdissi said the US government had "proved
to be irrational and they have no respect for international
law or human rights".
He warned that Syria would "respond accordingly
in the proper way".
The government newspaper Tishrin called the act a
"war crime".
Although there has been no official US response,
an unnamed US military official told the Associated
Press news agency that special forces had targeted
al-Qaeda linked militants moving across the border.
"We are taking matters into our own hands,"
the US official said.
The official said there had been considerable success
closing lines of entry for foreign militants but added:
"The one piece of the puzzle we have not been
showing success on is the nexus in Syria."
Several days ago the commander of US forces in western
Iraq said they would be increasing operations to secure
the border as it had become an "uncontrolled"
entry point for militants.
US intelligence believes up to 90% of the foreign
fighters entering Iraq come through Syria.
Blood-stained floor
Syria's official Sana news agency said that "four
American helicopters violated Syrian airspace around
1645 local time [1345 GMT] on Sunday".
The government said the helicopters attacked the
Sukkariyeh farm near Abu Kamal, eight kilometres (five
miles) from the Iraqi border.
A building under construction was hit and four children
and a married couple were among the dead, it said.
Reports of the raid vary but some said at least two
helicopters landed and troops disembarked to fire
on the
building.
In a Syrian television report, one injured man, Akram
Hameed, said: "One of the helicopters landed
in an agricultural area and eight members disembarked.
"The firing lasted about 15 minutes and when
I tried to leave the area on my motorcycle, I was
hit by a bullet in the right arm."
Television pictures showed a truck riddled with bullet
holes and a blood-stained floor.
Our correspondent says the timing of the incident
is curious, coming right at the end of the Bush administration's
period of office and at a moment when many of America's
European allies - like Britain and France - are trying
to broaden their ties with Damascus.
