American troops kill eight in air attack on Syria

SYRIA has condemned a US military strike on a village near the Iraqi border that killed eight people, including four children and a woman.

In a strongly worded statement a Syrian government official said it held the US responsible for the attack on a farm, which it said happened yesterday afternoon.

Eyewitness reports claimed American soldiers leapt from four aircraft and attacked a civilian building under construction near Abu Kamal, five miles inside the Syrian border, firing on workers inside. The helicopters then left Syria heading towards Iraq.

Reports said the dead included a man and his four children and a married couple. They were all Syrian. Residents said the house belonging to the family was completely destroyed.

The Syrian foreign ministry summoned the US envoy in Damascus to protest over the raid. The Syrian government called the attack "serious aggression". A government official said: "Syria condemns this aggressive act and holds American forces responsible for this aggression and all of its repercussions."

The area is near the Iraqi city of Qaim, which was a major crossing point for fighters, weapons and money travelling into Iraq to fuel the Sunni insurgency.

The US and the US-backed Iraqi government blame Syria for not doing enough to stop rebels, including al-Qaeda fighters, crossing the border.

Lieutenant Colonel Chris Hughes, spokesman for US forces in western Iraq, said the American division that operates on the Iraqi side of the border was not involved in the incident.

A resident of the nearby village of Hwijeh, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the helicopters flew along the Euphrates River.

He said: "Some of the helicopters landed and troops exiting the aircraft fired on a building."

He added that at least one of the dead was a construction worker.

Farhan al-Mahalawi, mayor of Qaim, said: "Iraqi travellers making their way home across the border reported hearing many explosions."

Iraqi insurgents seized Qaim in April 2005, forcing US Marines to recapture the town the following month in heavy fighting.

The area became more secure only after Sunni tribes in western Iraq turned against al-Qaeda in late 2006 and joined forces with the Americans.

On Thursday, the commander of US forces in western Iraq said that American troops were redoubling efforts to secure the Syrian border, from where some rebel fighters were continuing to enter Iraq.

Major General John Kelly said that Iraq's western borders with Saudi Arabia and Jordan were fairly tight as a result of good policing by security forces in those countries, but Syria was a "different story".

"The Syrian side is, I guess, uncontrolled by their side," Maj Gen Kelly said. "We still have a certain level of foreign fighter movement."

He added that the US was helping construct a sand wall and ditches along the border.

A Pentagon spokesman in Washington last night said he had no immediate information but would investigate the reports. White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe declined to comment.