Syrians hold funerals for people killed in US raid

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Families in this dusty village near the Iraqi border buried loved ones Monday who they said were killed when the US military launched a rare attack in Syrian territory. During the funeral procession, a crowd of angry residents shouted anti-American slogans and carried banners reading: "Down with Bush and the American enemy." Syrian foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem, said Monday in London that the US raid was an act of "criminal and terrorist aggression." The Syrian government said four US military helicopters attacked a civilian building under construction shortly before sundown Sunday in Sukkariyeh, about five miles inside the Syrian border. The government statement said eight people were killed, including a man and his four children and a woman. However, local officials said seven men were killed and two other people were wounded, including a woman among the injured.