Syrians watch as battle between Marines and insurgents rages on their border
By Albert Aji, Associated Press, 5/12/2005 16:12
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) From their rooftops, Syrians in frontier towns watched airstrikes and battles on the other side of the Iraqi border, where U.S. forces are fighting insurgents in an offensive raging uncomfortably close to Syria's doorstep.
Rawaf Hamad, a farmer in the village of Showaiyeh, said he was shaken awake at 3 a.m. Thursday by shelling about a mile away in the Iraqi town of al-Qaim. He heard the sound of warplanes
''There was heavy gunfire that lasted until 6 a.m today,'' the 24-year-old said.
Besides unnerving border residents, the fighting is politically unsettling for the Syrian government in light of persistent U.S. pressure on it to do more to stop fighters crossing its borders into Iraq.
The Syrian government has not made any comment about the combat, and its security forces have been keeping non-residents away from the border area, requiring journalists to get permits to go there.
Hundreds of American troops have been rolling through desert outposts along the Euphrates River in northwest Iraq, trying to root out what they say is a refuge for insurgents from other parts of Iraq and a staging ground for fighters coming in from Syria.
The fighting, now in its fifth day, is one of the biggest U.S. military operations in Iraq since Fallujah was taken from militants six months ago. As many as 100 insurgents were killed in the first 48 hours of the offensive, and at least five Marines have been killed.
In Abu Kamal , a town of 70,000 about three miles from the border, residents could feel the ground shake from the fighting across the border. People took to rooftops to watch U.S. fighter jets and helicopter gunships bombard insurgents hiding in houses in al-Qaim. The Syrians said they could hear small arms fire from the ground, apparently insurgents returning fire.
Heavy fighting broke out in the area at about midday Wednesday and continued through daybreak Thursday before it tapered off to sporadic exchanges in the afternoon.
''Smoke was rising in the air from al-Qaim,'' said one Abu Kamal resident, speaking on condition of anonymity because of worries about problems with the Syrian security agency.
Residents of the town were ''not scared because nothing is happening on this side and it's a bit far for shrapnel to hurt people,'' he said by telephone. Power remained on in Abu Kamal and businesses were open during the day.
The Syrian border post area of Al-Hiri was empty of travelers. The border point had been closed for months.
The border has been a point of friction at times in the past, with Bush administration officials accusing Syria of letting Islamic militants bent on fighting U.S.-led coalition forces enter Iraq.
Last month, Iraq accused Syrian border guards of opening fire on their Iraqi counterparts as a group of militants tried to slip through, an accusation Damascus denied. American forces have complained of coming under mortar fire from the Syrian side of the border though they say they don't know by whom.
Since the war in Iraq began in 2003, several cross-border shootings have wounded Syrians and damaged property.
Syria has repeatedly denied it was allowing fighters to slip across its 380-mile border into Iraq and stressed it was doing all it can to stop it.
In November, Syrian bulldozers built a 12-foot-high sand barrier along Syria's remote border with Iraq in the Abu Kamal region. Authorities said they've begun round-the-clock patrols and set up new observation posts to stop foreign fighters from crossing into Iraq. |
