Visiting Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem yesterday condemned the United States for its "terrorist aggression" on Syria after the US launched a raid on a village near the Syria-Iraq border killing eight civilians.

"The Americans do it in the daylight, this means it is not a mistake, it's by blunt determination. For that we consider this criminal and terrorist aggression. We put the responsibility on the American government," al-Muallem said at a press conference in London after talks with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband.

"Killing civilians in international law means a terrorist aggression," said he, adding that Syria would "defend our territories" if the US launched a similar operation again.

On Sunday, US forces ferried by helicopter crossed five miles into Syria from Iraq and launched a commando raid that left at least eight people dead.

The raid was directed at a network that used to send fighters from North Africa and the Middle East to Syria, where elements of the Syrian military are in league with al-Qaida and other fighters, the US officials claimed.