In a report from local witnesses later confirmed by a Syrian government spokesman, Two US helicopters landed in the Syrian border town of Al-Sukkariya while others remained in the air and eight American soldiers exited. The soldiers killed at least nine people in the attack, and wounded 14 others before reboarding the helicopters and returning to Iraqi territory.
The US military has yet to officially confirm the strike, which would be the first US strike on Syrian soil, and MSNBC reports that they were told there has been no comment and “there will be no comment.” Israel’s Channel 10 reports that unnamed western defense officials told them that the troops were carrying out a military operation against “al-Qaeda activists” in Syria. Witnesses say those killed were construction workers.
It has been speculated that the attack might be related to US military operations in the area, but there really haven’t been any. Major General John Kelly described security incidents in that area of Iraq as “almost meaningless now” and was reportedly optimistic about cutting troops in the area.
punditman says... It will be interesting to see how this story plays out. What will Syria have to say?
Update: there's been a reaction. Buried have way down the biased page, of course. Imagine if the shoe was on the other foot. Syrian commandos storm into Texas to knock of some extremists and accidentally kill a bunch of construction workers and their kids. Oh wait, we're not allowed to think of things that way.
