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US Strike 'Serious Aggression': Syria

US yet to respond to claim

By the Associated Press

Posted Oct 26, 2008 4:36 PM CDT
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(AP) – US military helicopters launched an extremely rare attack today on Syrian territory close to the border with Iraq, killing eight people in a strike the government in Damascus condemned as "serious aggression." A US military official said the raid by special forces targeted the foreign fighter network that travels through Syria into Iraq. The Americans have been unable to shut the network down in the area.

"We are taking matters into our own hands," the official told the AP on condition of anonymity because of the political sensitivity of cross-border raids. The attack came just days after the commander of U.S. forces in western Iraq said American troops were redoubling efforts to secure the Syrian border, which he called an "uncontrolled" gateway for fighters entering Iraq.

Iraqi refugees living in Syria head back to their home country at the al-Tanaf border crossing between Syria and Iraq, in Syria Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007. A growing wave of Iraqis are returning home from Syria, not because they are confident of their nation's future, but because they have run...
Iraqi refugees living in Syria head back to their home country at the al-Tanaf border crossing between Syria and Iraq, in Syria Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007. A growing wave of Iraqis are returning home from...   (AP Photo/Bassem Tellawi)
A U.S helicopter flies over the site of a failed suicide car bomb on December 18, 2005 in Baghdad, Iraq.
A U.S helicopter flies over the site of a failed suicide car bomb on December 18, 2005 in Baghdad, Iraq.   (Getty Images)
A US military helicopter fires flares while flying over the outskirts of Baghdad, Iraq, on Saturday, May 24, 2008.
A US military helicopter fires flares while flying over the outskirts of Baghdad, Iraq, on Saturday, May 24, 2008.   (AP Photo)
A U.S. army Apache helicopter flies across the sky as the sun sets over Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, July 9, 2008.
A U.S. army Apache helicopter flies across the sky as the sun sets over Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, July 9, 2008.   (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
A US military helicopter fires flares while flying over the outskirts of Baghdad, Iraq, on Saturday, May 24, 2008.
A US military helicopter fires flares while flying over the outskirts of Baghdad, Iraq, on Saturday, May 24, 2008.   (AP Photo/Ceerwan Aziz, Pool)
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