Syria called the US attack within its borders on Sunday evening a heinous crime and a statement issued by Damascus said the country was reserving the right to respond as it would see fit.
A US Army helicopter over Iraq. [illustrative]
Photo: AP [file]
Damascus claimed that the four US helicopters that entered Syria attacked an "agricultural farm," Israel Radio reported.
Syrian ambassador to Britain Sami Al Khiyami said he was convinced the US was hunting for terrorists based on false intelligence.
At least eight people were killed when US military helicopters bombed targets in a Syrian border town near Iraq after global jihad operatives allegedly crossed the border into Syria.
The attack, which was not confirmed by the US military, was the first-ever reported American strike on Syria, which called it a "serious aggression."
Iran also condemned the raid, saying on Monday that the violation of the territorial integrity of any sovereign state was unacceptable.
Israeli defense officials said the incident was not connected to Israel and confirmed that the American troops had been chasing global jihad suspects in Iraq.
The helicopters then crossed into Syria in pursuit of the terrorists.
A government statement carried by the official Syrian Arab News Agency said the attack occurred at the Sukkariyeh Farm near the town of Abu Kamal, eight kilometers inside the Syrian border. Four helicopters attacked a civilian building under construction, firing on the workers inside shortly before sundown, the statement said.
A US official, in confirming the raid, said the attack targeted elements of a robust foreign fighter logistics network and that due to Syrian inaction the US was now "taking matters into our own hands."
The US military official said the special forces raid targeted elements of a network that sends fighters from North Africa and elsewhere in the Middle East to Syria, where elements of the Syrian military are in league with al-Qaida and other fighters. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the political sensitivity of cross-border raids.
Syria's Foreign Ministry said it summoned the charges d'affaires of the United States and Iraq to protest the strike.
A resident of the nearby village of Hwijeh, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, said the aircraft flew along the Euphrates River into the area of farms and several brick factories.
On September 6, 2007, the IAF destroyed a purported nuclear reactor Syria was building in its northeast, along the Euphrates River.
The area bombed Sunday is near the Iraqi border city of Qaim, which had been a major crossing point for gunmen, weapons and money coming into Iraq to fuel the Sunni insurgency.
Iraqi insurgents seized Qaim in April 2005, forcing US Marines to recapture the town the following month in heavy fighting. The area became secure only after Sunni tribes in Anbar province turned against al-Qaida in late 2006 and joined forces with the Americans.
AP contributed to this report.
