Eight killed in US raid on Syrian village

Damascus: Syria on Monday condemned a commando raid on a remote border village by US forces in which it said eight civilians, including four children, were killed.

A government spokesman in Damascus added that the Iraqi government also bore responsibility for the incident.

According to the state-run news agency SANA, the eight victims included a married couple, their four children, and two men in the attack at the village Sunday.

Earlier, media reports in Damascus had put the death toll at nine, with 14 persons wounded. But those reports were never officially confirmed.

SANA said that the US charge d'affaires in Damascus was summoned by the Syrian Foreign Ministry after the incident.

According to eyewitness accounts Sunday, the raid took place at the village of Al-Sukkariya, some eight kilometres from the Iraqi border.

The local residents said four helicopters were involved in the operation, with two of the helicopters landing and eight soldiers disembarking before killing their victims in a building still under construction.

There was no initial comment by the American side to the reported attack. But if confirmed, it would be the first time US forces had carried out an attack on Syrian soil.

But it was also unclear whether the US forces knowingly had flown into Syrian territory.