U.S. experts are trying to identify those killed and captured when an attack on a fleeing Iraqi convoy last week led to the shooting of Syrian border guards, US defense officials said Monday.
Special US operations troops attacked the convoy in western Iraq to hit what they believed were fugitives linked to the fallen regime of Saddam Hussein.
It was unclear who shot first, but American forces engaged in a firefight with Syrian border guards and several guards were hit, one senior Pentagon official said, according to AP. The guards were given medical treatment by U.S. forces on the Iraqi side of the border, and it was unclear how many were wounded and whether any had died, he said.
The special Task Force 20 commando team was aided in the attack last Wednesday by fire laid down by an AC-130 gunship and other air support, one official said.
The convoy was traveling a known smuggling route near the town of Qaim. (Albawaba.com)
