Syria's foreign minister has accused the US of an act of "criminal and terrorist aggression" over what it says was a helicopter raid on its territory. Walid Muallem said Sunday's attack saw four US aircraft travel eight miles inside Syrian airspace from Iraq and kill eight unarmed civilians on a farm. He said those who died were a father and his three children, a farm guard and his wife, and a fisherman. The US has not confirmed or denied the alleged raid.
Syria's foreign minister has accused the US of an act of "criminal and terrorist aggression" over what it says was a helicopter raid on its territory.
Walid Muallem said Sunday's attack saw four US aircraft travel eight miles inside Syrian airspace from Iraq and kill eight unarmed civilians on a farm.
He said those who died were a father and his three children, a farm guard and his wife, and a fisherman.
The US has not confirmed or denied the alleged raid.
A US military raid inside Syria was an act of "criminal and terrorist aggression", Syria's foreign minister said today Speaking at a news conference in London, Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem warned of retaliation if Syria's borders were violated again. He said Syria "would defend our territories" if there were a repeat of the weekend raid. The US military said it was targeting the network of al-Qaida-linked foreign fighters moving through Syria to help fight in Iraq. Syria said troops in four helicopters attacked a building and killed eight people, including four children. "They know full well that we stand against al-Qa'ida," Mr al-Moallem said. "They know full well we are trying to tighten our border with Iraq."
A US military raid inside Syria was an act of "criminal and terrorist aggression", Syria's foreign minister said today
Speaking at a news conference in London, Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem warned of retaliation if Syria's borders were violated again.
He said Syria "would defend our territories" if there were a repeat of the weekend raid.
The US military said it was targeting the network of al-Qaida-linked foreign fighters moving through Syria to help fight in Iraq. Syria said troops in four helicopters attacked a building and killed eight people, including four children.
"They know full well that we stand against al-Qa'ida," Mr al-Moallem said. "They know full well we are trying to tighten our border with Iraq."
Senior US officials claimed last night that the head of a Syrian network responsible for smuggling foreign fighters, weapons and cash into Iraq had been killed in Syria during a raid by US special forces that sparked strong condemnation from Damascus. The Syrian foreign minister, Walid al-Moualem said the raid had killed eight civilians and was an act of "criminal and terrorist aggression." Speaking at a news conference in London, he warned that Damascus would defend itself against any such future attack. Sunday's raid, 10km from the Iraqi border, took place in daylight and therefore was "not a mistake," he said. The rare attack into Syria marks an unexpected expansion of the war in Iraq and comes as the level of fighting drops to its lowest level for four years.
Senior US officials claimed last night that the head of a Syrian network responsible for smuggling foreign fighters, weapons and cash into Iraq had been killed in Syria during a raid by US special forces that sparked strong condemnation from Damascus.
The Syrian foreign minister, Walid al-Moualem said the raid had killed eight civilians and was an act of "criminal and terrorist aggression." Speaking at a news conference in London, he warned that Damascus would defend itself against any such future attack.
Sunday's raid, 10km from the Iraqi border, took place in daylight and therefore was "not a mistake," he said.
The rare attack into Syria marks an unexpected expansion of the war in Iraq and comes as the level of fighting drops to its lowest level for four years.
Also, at a time (up until the first year of the US invasion of Afghanistan, I think) I believed special operations commandos would be a more targeted way to fight war than bombing the hell out of a country. But the Iraq war at the latest taught me that commandos have a tendency to shoot everyone and ask questions later, especially when getting the wrong guys. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
