US Official Says Attack in Syria Is “Successful”

Source: Al-Manar TV, 27-10-2008

US forces crossed into Syria Sunday, mounting a "successful" raid against foreign fighters, a US official said Monday. "The operation was successful," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

A top agent smuggling foreign fighters into Iraq is believed to have been killed in a US cross border raid into Syria, another US official said. The official identified the man as Abu Ghadiya and said he was "one of the most prominent foreign fighter facilitators in the region."

"The operation was successful," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "He is believed to have been killed."

This declaration was made by a US official few hours after the US occupation military contradicted itself and claimed it had no information about the deadly raid reportedly carried out by US helicopters inside Syria on Sunday which left eight people dead. "The Multinational Forces
- Iraq, as a whole, does not have any information regarding the Syria incident," the US military claimed in a statement.

Earlier on Monday, Syria accused the United States of "applying the law of the jungle." Jihad Makdissi, a spokesman for the Syrian embassy in London, also said it was "outrageous" that a UN Security Council member like the United States should behave in this way.

"In the midst of the crisis they did not do this sort of act of aggression. Why now when the security situation in Iraq is getting better?" he told BBC radio. "It's unjustifiable."

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Mouallem was set to meet his British counterpart David Miliband in London later Monday for talks likely to be dominated by the US raid.

Earlier, a Syrian diplomat called a U.S. helicopter strike on a Syrian village near the border with Iraq on Sunday a "heinous crime," adding that Syria reserves the right to respond accordingly.

Eight civilians were killed in the strike, which Syria said targeted a civilian building under construction IN the village of Al-Sukkiraya, around 550 kilometers northeast of the capital in the Abu Kamal area.

"This administration ... has proved to be irrational and they have no respect for international law or human rights. We expect a clarification, and of course Syria reserves the right to respond accordingly in the proper way," Syria's press attache in London, Jihad Makdissi, told the BBC.

The martyred citizens were identified as Daoud Mohammad al-Abdullah and his 4 sons, Ahmad Khalefa, Ali Abbas and his wife in addition to wounding another citizen.

A U.S. military official, who confirmed the strike, claimed Sunday that the attack targeted elements of a robust foreign fighter logistics network and that due to Syrian inaction the U.S. was now "taking matters into our own hands."

Makdissi condemned the attack, saying "if they (the U.S.) have any proof of any insurgency, instead of applying the law of the jungle and penetrating, unprovoked, a sovereign country, they should come to the Syrians first and share this information," the BBC reported.

The Syrian state-run news agency SANA reported that Syria has also called on the Iraqi government to carry out an immediate inquiry into the attack and to ensure that Iraq was not used for "aggression against Syria."

A government statement carried by the official Syrian Arab News Agency said Sunday that the attack occurred at the Sukkariyeh Farm near the town of Abu Kamal, five miles (eight kilometers) inside the Syrian border. Four helicopters attacked a civilian building under construction, firing at the workers inside shortly before sundown, the statement said.

Iraq said that the raid on neighboring Syria on Sunday was against an area used by insurgents to launch attacks on its soil. "Iraq is in contact with the American side about reports regarding the attack along the frontier with Syria. This region is a theatre of insurgent activities against Iraq using Syria as a launch pad," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement.

SYRIA HOLDS US, IRAQ RESPONSIBLE

Syria's Foreign Ministry said it summoned the charges d'affaires of the United States and Iraq to protest the strike. It holds the US forces responsible for this aggression and its repercussions, and calls the Iraqi government to assume its responsibilities and make an immediate investigation into this dangerous violation and prevent using the Iraqi lands from launching aggression on Syria.

"Syria condemns this aggression and holds the American forces responsible for this aggression and all its repercussions. Syria also calls on the Iraqi government to shoulder its responsibilities and launch and immediate investigation into this serious violation and prevent the use of Iraqi territory for aggression against Syria," the statement said.

Syrian state television late Sunday aired footage that showed blood stains on the floor of a site under construction, the wooden beams used to mold concrete strewn on the ground. Akram Hameed, one of the injured who said he was fishing in the Euphrates, told Syrian television he saw four helicopters coming from the border area under a heavy blanket of fire.

"One of the helicopters landed in an agricultural area and eight members disembarked," the man in his 40s said. "The firing lasted about 15 minutes and when I tried to leave the area on my motorcycle, I was hit by a bullet in the right arm about 20 meters (yards) away," he said.

On Thursday, the commander of U.S. forces in western Iraq claimed in a briefing with Pentagon reporters that US occupation troops were redoubling efforts to secure the Syrian border, from where some fighters were continuing to enter Iraq.