Reports are emerging of a US raid on the Syrian village of Hwijeh, about 10 miles inside of the Syrian border. The reports themselves are coming from Syrian television and witnesses in the area, and it’s unclear how reliable the reports may be. Seven people are believed to have been killed by the US helicopters and soldiers.

The attack would be hugely significant, as cross border fighting could raise tensions in the tenuous relationship of the US and the Syrian Ba’ath Party regime. Syria and the US have been at odds over both the Syrian influence within Lebanon, the assassinations of anti-Syrian Lebanese MP Walid Eido, cabinet minister Pierre Gemayel, and the UN nuclear inspector’s suspected Syrian informational source within Syria, Brig. Gen. Mohammed Suleiman. The US raid into Syria could signal a shift in tactics by the forces in Iraq, no longer merely relying solely on clandestine operations to perform cross border raids.

Witnesses claim that two helicopters, filled with US soldiers raided the village. This would probably mean the helicopters landed, and the troops then raided the village, not just a helicopter gunship raid. If this is the case, one would suspect actionable intelligence on significant targets was acquired and needed to be acted upon. The US military in Iraq had no comment, according to the reports.

Update: Now four US helicopters are reported to have taken part in the raid. Two gunships, and two that carried the troops that landed, and delivered a full squad to a ground operation.

Update 2: Report from MSNBC – if the video does not work for you, here is the video link:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27389245/

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