OREANDA-NEWS. October 29, 2008. According to media reports, US Air Force combat helicopters, operating from Iraqi territory, violated the Syrian border eight kilometers deep on the evening of October 26 and struck a civilian target near the town of Abu Kamal. The US Special Forces men on board the helicopters after the air strike stormed a building, killing eight people.

The Government of Syria has condemned this incident, laying responsibility for it at the doorstep of the US military. Damascus has also called on the Government of Iraq to immediately start an inquiry into this serious violation so as to prevent any future use of Iraqi territory for committing acts of aggression against Syria.

Moscow has received news of the incident with great concern. We consider that no condemnable attacks on the territory of sovereign states should be made under the slogan of the struggle against terrorism. It is obvious that such unilateral military actions are having a sharply negative impact on the situation in the region and are widening the hotbed of dangerous armed tension in it.

It appears optimal for the region’s countries to tackle any security problems that arise, including those of a transfrontier nature, on their own. Especially as the appropriate regional cooperation mechanisms exist for this purpose and are generally believed to be quite effective, including the security working group set up by a decision of the International Conference on Iraq, held in May 2007 at Sharm El Sheikh.