US confirms Syrian shootout

A shoot-out between American forces and Syrian border guards left a scene of destruction, with burned out vehicles and wounded men, US officials said today.

Few details have been released of last Wednesday’s incident, but American forces ended up releasing about 20 people captured during the operation.

Based partly on information from the most senior Iraqi captured so far – Abid Hamid Mahmud al-Tikriti – special forces attacked a convoy in a bid to stop what they believed were top Iraqi fugitives, maybe even Saddam Hussein or his sons.

The special Task Force 20 commando team was joined by an AC-130 gunship and other air support and they attacked the vehicles on well known escape and smuggling route near Qaim town.

At some point during the operation, an undisclosed number of vehicles in the convoy tried to make it over the Syrian border, officials said.

It was unclear who shot first and where Syrian border guards were positioned, but a firefight followed between the Syrians and the Americans.

Five Syrians were injured. Three were treated by US forces.

None had been returned to their government as of late last night, officials said.

About 20 other people were apprehended during the operation, and most were released after it was determined they did not pose a threat.

The officials would not disclose nationalities, nor would they say on which side of the Iraq-Syria border the clash with border guards occurred.

One official said the Americans may have pursued part of the convoy across the border into Syria.

Yet another official said a site exploitation team would attempt to collect remains of the dead and that DNA testing would be done.

He did not know the number killed and would not say how many vehicles were in the convoy.

It was unclear whether human remains had been collected yesterday.

US-Syrian relations had already been strained over events in Iraq.

Earlier this year, US officials threatened sanctions against Syria because of allegations it harboured fleeing members of Saddam’s deposed government and provided Iraq with military equipment.

The pressure led to speculation that Washington saw Damascus as the next US military target after Iraq, but tensions eased after a May 3 visit to Damascus by Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Syrian President Bashar Assad later said his government had closed its border. He cited strong tribal connections between the two countries, however, and noted the vast desert areas on either side of the 300 mile Iraqi-Syrian border.

There were multiple reports over the weekend that Mahmud, captured a week ago, had told US interrogators Saddam and his two sons survived the war, and at least the sons had escaped to Syria.