The Syrian Foreign Ministry has summoned the US charge d'affaires in Damascus to protest at a US
military raid in eastern Syria which left eight people dead, Syria's state news agency SANA reported.
Syria's deputy foreign minister had informed the US official of "Syria's protest and condemnation of this serious attack", it said. The Iraqi charge d'affaires had been summoned for the same reason, it said.
US helicopters attacked a farm near the Syrian border with Iraq today, killing eight civilians, Syria earlier reported. Syrian state television said US soldiers stormed a building in the area during the raid.
The state news agency SANA said four US helicopters had taken part in the raid on a civilian building under construction in the Bou Kamal border area, in eastern Syria. Bou Kamal is the main crossing point into Iraq from Syria.
Earlier, residents had said two workers and a man and his four sons were killed. Their house was destroyed, according to residents.
The United States and the US-backed Iraqi government blame Syria for not doing enough to stop anti-U.S. rebels, including al Qaeda fighters, from infiltrating over the border.
Witnesses said the attack in Mashahdeh village, 7 km from the Iraqi border and 2 km from Bou Kamal, took place at 5 pm local time.
"The helicopters carried out an attack on a civilian building under construction and opened fire on workers inside the building, including the wife of the building guard, leading to the (killing) of eight civilians," SANA said.
The helicopters then departed, heading for Iraq, SANA said, adding that the target was al-Sukkari farm near the border.
A Pentagon spokesman in Washington said he had no immediate information on the reported strike but would check further.
Farhan al-Mahalawi, mayor of the Iraqi border town of Qaim, said that US helicopters had struck a village on the Syrian side of the border. He said the village had been surrounded by Syrian troops.
An Iraqi security source in Baghdad confirmed that eight people were killed.
However, US forces in western Iraq said they were not immediately aware of the incident.
"We have no operational reporting that supports this," Lieutenant-Colonel Chris Hughes, spokesman for U.S. forces in western Iraq, said in an e-mail.
Dr. Suleiman Ghadban, head of Bou Kamal hospital, told Reuters: "The hospital received seven bodies aged between 16-50 and three wounded, including the mother of the (deceased) family."