Jets Cross into Iraq to Bomb Syria Town
Syrian military planes crossed into Iraqi airspace on Thursday in order to carry out air strikes against the border town of al-Bukamal, which is held by rebel forces, Iraqi officials said.
"Syrian combat aircraft crossed into Iraqi airspace at about 8:00 am (0500 GMT) for about 15 minutes, and targeted al-Bukamal in Syrian territory," a lieutenant colonel in the Iraqi border guards said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
An official in the security command center of Anbar, the western Iraqi province that borders al-Bukamal in Syria, confirmed the incident but declined to give details or to be identified by name.
The mayor of Qaim, the Iraqi town across the border from al-Bukamal, said that there had been attacks on al-Bukamal, but said the planes did not cross the border.
"There were ... aerial attacks on al-Bukamal," Farhan al-Obeidi said. "There weren't any Syrian aircraft crossing into Iraq -- everything that happened was in Syria."
Last month, Syrian rebels took control of al-Bukamal, one of three main border crossings along the 600-kilometer (375-mile) frontier between Iraq and Syria.
Source: Agence France Presse
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