US implicated in Syrian air strikes, Hannah Cooper

Hannah Cooper — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 09:06:06 +0000

American military helicopters reportedly attacked an area along Syria's border with Iraq on Sunday night, killing at least eight people and wounding another. Residents said the attack targeted a house in the area, killing a man and his four sons, a married couple and another man. Syrian state television said American helicopters raided the village of Sukariya, which lies 550km northeast of Damascus. Lieutenant-Colonel Chris Hughes, a spokesman for US forces in western Iraq, denies the involvement of the US division that operates on the Iraqi side of the border in the incident. Keep up to date with the latest developments and sharpest perspectives in a world of strife and struggle.

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The toD verdict: The bombed area is near the Iraqi border city of Qaim, which has proved a major crossing point for fighters, weapons and money coming into Iraq to fuel the Sunni insurgency against the Shia-led Iraqi government. The US and Iraqi governments have been critical of what they see as a lack of Syrian efforts to stop anti-US fighters, including members of al-Qaeda, from crossing the border into Iraq.

If Syrian claims of US involvement are true, this will be the first military incursion by the US into Syrian territory from Iraq. The timing is also significant, coming with only days to go until the US presidential elections and at a moment when many of America's European allies, in particular Britain and France, are trying to strengthen their ties with Damascus. Sunday's attack could have been a way of the US government asserting their continued authority in the region, despite speculation over what a new US President will decide to do about the war in Iraq.

The raid comes 10 days after Iraqi forces arrested seven Syrian "terrorist" suspects at a checkpoint near the city of Baquba, a base for al-Qaeda fighters.

ETA blamed for Basque bombings

A bomb which exploded in a train station in the Basque town of Berriz on Saturday has caused major damage but no injuries. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the bombing, which was followed by two molotov cocktails being thrown at another station in Amorebieta. Euskadi Ta Atasuna (ETA), who have been listed as a terrorist organisation by the European Union and the United States, is the most likely suspect. The group, fighting for an independent homeland for Basques in northern Spain and southern France, has previously carried out bombings in the region, but usually sending telephone warnings prior to detonation.

Congolese rebels seize strategic positions

On Sunday, rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo took control of an army base in Nord-Kivu province and the strategically important Virunga National Park, both in the east of the country. The Congolese Tutsi rebel leader Laurent Nkunda led the capture of the base. The east of the country has seen increased violence since a peace deal collapsed in August. Since then, about 200,000 people have been displaced, the UN said on Friday. Virunga, which borders Uganda and Rwanda, holds 200 of the last remaining 700 mountain gorillas in the world. The mountain gorillas are an endangered species.

Drug cartel leader arrested

Mexican security forces caught and arrested drug cartel leader Eduardo Arellano Felix on Saturday, following a shootout in Tijuana. In 2003, Arellano Felix was indicted on drug smuggling and money laundering charges and the reward for his capture had reached $5 million. Arellano-Felix was one of the last wanted members of the family-run trafficking organisation. His brother, the Mexican drug lord Javier Arellano-Felix also on the DEA's Most Wanted List, was captured by US authorities in August 2006 off the shore of southern Baja California. Tens of thousands of troops and police officers have been sent out by President Felipe Calderon to fight escalating drug violence since late 2006, but, on the whole, arrests of major cartel leaders have been rare.

Twenty killed during US air strikes in Pakistan

A suspected US strike on a militant training camp in Taliban-dominated area killed at least 20 people in Pakistan on Sunday. The strike occurred in the South Waziristan tribal zone which borders Afghanistan and is the latest in a series of attacks on Pakistani soil that have stoked tensions between Islamabad and Washington. President Asif Ali Zardari continues to denounce what he sees as the US' lack of respect for his country's sovereignty. Last week, Pakistan's parliament passed a special resolution calling for an urgent review of the government's anti-terror policy, including more talks with militants and a vow to defend Pakistan's territorial integrity.

Elsewhere in Pakistan, ten security personnel were killed and many were injured when a massive suicide car bomb ripped through a check post at Nahqai on Sunday night, with echoes of the blast being felt from 10km away. This incident came on the same day as clashes between suspected pro-Taliban fighters and members of an armed tribal group in northwest Pakistan killed at least fifteen people, when supporters of Maulana Fazlullah, a local religious leader with links with to the Pakistani Taliban, tried to abduct Pir Samiullah, leader of the Lashkar tribe. Up to 80 tribal members were also abducted amid the fighting in the Matt area of Pakistan's Swat valley.

Afghan workers killed in US attack

At least twenty-four security workers at a construction site in Afghanistan's Ghazni province have been killed in suspected US air raids on Sunday. The latest air raids come just days after an attack by US-led forces allegedly killed nine Afghan soldiers in the southeastern province of Khost. Hundreds of civilians have been killed in operations by NATO and US-led international forces this year, and fears are that this will fan anti-American and anti-British passions amongst Afghans, bolstering sympathy for the efforts of the Taliban.

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US implicated in Syrian air strikes, Hannah Cooper