U.S. military helicopters launched an attack on Syrian territory close to the border with Iraq, killing eight people in a strike the government in Damascus condemned as "serious aggression."

The official Syrian news agency Sana said the raid took place in the Abu Kamal border area, in eastern Syria.

It said that American soldiers on four helicopters had stormed a building under construction on Sunday night.

"Syria condemns this aggressive act and holds American forces responsible for this aggression and all of its repercussions," a government official said.

"Four American helicopters violated Syrian airspace around 1645 local time [1445 GMT] on Sunday," Sana said.

"American soldiers" emerged from helicopters and "attacked a civilian building under construction and opened fire on workers inside - including the wife of the building guard - leading to [the deaths] of eight civilians", it added.

"The helicopters then left Syrian territory towards Iraqi territory," Sana said.

A U.S. military official said the raid by special forces targeted the network of al-Qaida-linked foreign fighters moving through Syria into Iraq. The Americans have been unable to shut the network down in the area because Syria was out of the military's reach.

"We are taking matters into our own hands," the official told The Associated Press in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the political sensitivity of cross-border raids.

CNN (at present) are not covering this story at all.
A recent raid into Pakistan by an unmanned drone has seen the death toll rise from 7 to 20 where a school was said to be hit.

Four children are said to have been killed in the raid on Syria.

The US Department of Defense website does not mention any of these cross-border raids.
Instead it shows photos of troops handing out soccer cards to Iraqi children.