Syria on Sunday summoned the U.S. and Iraqi envoys to Damascus to protest a U.S. military attack on its territory and to demand that Iraq prevent U.S. forces from attacking Syria from its territory, official media reported. "Syria condemns and denounces this act of aggression and U.S. forces will bear the responsibility for any consequences," the SANA news agency quoted an official as saying. "Syria also demands that the Iraqi government accepts its responsibilities and launches an immediate inquiry following this dangerous violation and forbid the use of Iraqi territory to launch attacks on Syria," it said.
Nine people were killed and 14 injured after U.S. military helicopters attacked a village inside Syria along its border with Iraq, moments later U.S. soldiers stormed a building in the same area. "Nine people were killed and 14 wounded in the raid, which hit a group of builders while they were working," the private television channel al-Dunia said. "All victims were civilians," it said.
Reports said American helicopters attacked the village of Al-Sukkiraya, east of the capital. It was unclear when the attack happened. A Pentagon spokesman declined to comment on the attack.
Commander Darryn James said that there was "no response" from the U.S. Department of Defense about Syrian media reports of the attack, in which four American helicopters were said to have breached Syrian airspace to launch the operation, killing eight civilians "We are in the process of investigating this," Sergeant Brooke Murphy, a U.S. military spokesperson, told AFP in Baghdad.