Syria on Monday condemned a U.S. commando raid on a border village in which it said eight civilians, including four children, died. A government spokesman in Damascus said that the Iraqi government also bore responsibility for the incident. "Syria 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," a Syrian official statemnet has said.
According to the state-run news agency SANA, the eight victims included a married couple, their four children, and two men. They were identified as Daoud Mohammad al-Abdullah and his four sons, Ahmad Khalefa, Ali Abbas and his wife.
SANA said that the US charge d'affaires in Damascus was called in to the Syrian Foreign Ministry after the incident. The Iraqi charge d'affaires has been also summoned for the same purpose.
According to eyewitness accounts on Sunday, the raid took place at the village of Al-Sukkariya Farm, some eight kilometres from the Iraqi border. Locals said four helicopters were involved in the operation, with two of the helicopters landing soldiers.
