Damascus detains infiltrators into Iraq, monitors the border

Damascus said it detained 1400 "Arab and Islamic" fighters since the beginning of the war against Iraq, most of them were returned back to their homeland, Syria increased the number of border guards in an attempt to prevent infiltration attempts, one of the main accusations in the American list of accusations against Syria.

A Syrian army colonel said, in a unique visit organized for the Syrian- Iraqi borders that extended to 600 km, that Syria since June increased the number of border centers to 557 instead of 547 in a rate of 10 soldiers in every position, as well as sand barriers at a cost of USD 2.3 million to prevent infiltration.

The Syrian official said that his country returned back 2500 Iraqis while trying to carry out criminal acts inside Syria, but he did not identify the nature of such acts.

The Syrian army colonel also disclosed that one Syrian soldier was killed and other two injured in May in Baghouz village by the fire of one artillery for the American forces, while the US army was carrying out operations on the Iraqi side of the borders. He attributed that to the "fears (tenseness) within the American soldiers," but denied knowledge of any cases in which the American army crossed the borders into inside the Syrian territories.

Concerning the operations in Iraq, the American army announced on Friday the killing of five of its soldiers, while four Iraqis were killed and other nine injured in various attacks and different incidents.