"Soldiers emerged after the helicopters landed and started shooting at
civilians working on farms, including a father and his three children and a
fisherman, "Muallem said. "All of them are civilians, Syrian, unarmed and
they are on the Syrian territories."
For their part, U.S. officials, who were slow to confirm the strike,
confirmed the military raid into Syrian territory, the first confirmed
strike inside Syria since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
"Look when you've got an opportunity, an important one, you take it,"
the official said. "That's what the American people would expect,
particularly when it comes to foreign fighters going into Iraq, threatening
our forces."
U.S. officials said the strike targeted a major smuggler of foreign
fighters into Iraq. The official said that Abu Ghadiya, a former lieutenant
of Al Qaida in Iraq, was believed killed in the raid.
The U.S. has maintained that Syria is the main transit point for
insurgents crossing into Iraq and has blamed Damascus for refusing to deal
with the problem. U.S. Maj. Gen. John Kelly, who is responsible for Anbar
province, which extends from Baghdad to the Syrian border, said that Syria
has become "a sanctuary" for AQI.
In Baghdad, Iraqi government spokesman Ali Al Dabbagh said that the area
targeted was "a theatre of insurgent activities against Iraq using Syria as
a launch pad."
