<%@LANGUAGE="VBSCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> WorldTribune.com: Mobile — Syria blasts first U.S. strike in its territory as 'terrorist aggression'
Syria blasts first U.S. strike in its territory as 'terrorist aggression'

Tuesday, October 28, 2008 Free Headline Alerts

WASHINGTON — Syria has accused the United States of aggression following the first U.S. military raid inside Syria since the outbreak of war in Iraq in 2003.

At least seven people were killed when U.S. helicopters struck a construction site near the town of Abu Kamal on the Syrian side of the border with Iraq. Syria authorities, who accused the U.S. of targeting civilian construction workers, said that three children were among those killed in the strike on Oct. 26.

"The Americans do it in the daylight, this means it is not a mistake, its by blunt determination," Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said. "For that we consider this criminal and terrorist aggression. Killing civilians in international law means a terrorist aggression."

Muallem said that four U.S. helicopters had crossed the border mid-day Oct. 26. Two helicopters landed at the site in northeast Syria while the other two aircraft protected them.

"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."

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