Report: U.S. Marines Battle Syrian Troops in Syria

There is a report out of the Middle-East that U.S. Marines were sent Thursday night, Nov. 24, from Iraq into Syria and have engaged in combat with Syrian border guards.

The report, from the Israeli website DEBKA says that the United States delivered an ultimatum to the government of Syria to hand over some senior commanders of Abu Musab al Zarqawi's Al Qaeda in Iraq who had fled from the Mosul area under American military pressure. According to this account, Syria was unresponsive to the U.S. request, and the Marines soon followed into the neighboring country.

There is no mention whether the U.S. forces were successful in capturing or killing their prey.


Update: The story appears to have legs. I have seen a report that Syria has lodged an official protest with the U.S. Embassy in Damascus. The Syrians claim two border guards and two civilians have been killed in the incident.