Syria Calls U.S. Incursion A "Terrorist" Assault
October 27, 2008 - AHN Staff - Damascus, Syria (AHN) - Syria described Monday as "terrorist aggression" a U.S. air and ground assault on a Syrian village near the Iraqi border that killed an alleged al-Qaeda leader and civilians on Sunday. "Killing civilians in international law means a terrorist aggression," Foreign Minister Walid Muallem told reporters in London, after talks with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, according to France24.com. Muallem said four U.S. military helicopters from Iraq entered Syrian territory at 5 p.m. Sunday with two landing in the village of Al-Sukkiraya, five miles from the Iraqi border. He said soldiers jumped off from the helicopters and started shooting at people on farms allegedly killing eight civilians, including a father and his three children. An unnamed U.S. official privy to the attack said U.S. soldiers killed Abu Ghadiyah, Al Qaeda's leader in Iraq responsible from smuggling foreign fighters, weapons and money into Iraq.