Stolen Valor fraud ripped off over $2 million from women

FBI: Fraudster posing as petty officer helped fleece females for $2.1 million

By: Navy Times staff
September 6, 2019 

A probable cause affidavit filed by Special Agent Dean J. DiPietro, a member of the FBI’s White Collar Crime squad in Atlantic City, estimates that Sarpong and the other three people netted at least $2.1 million in the scams over the past 3 ½ years.

Rubbin Sarpong never was a U.S. Navy petty officer stationed in Canada or Syria who needed a little cash to come home to his loved one.

Although one victim sent him $50,000 in a series of wire transfers dating back to early 2016, according to court documents, Sarpong really was laundering her money, stashing it in bank accounts or doling it out to co-conspirators on two continents to further what authorities say is an ongoing swindle that preys on lonely hearts with a crush on military men.

Federal prosecutors say that Rubbin Sarpong on March 2, 2017, posted a photograph of himself on social media accounts, holding a large stack of cash to his ear like a mobile phone, with a caption reading "WakeUp with 100K... OneTime. Making A phone Call To Let My Bank Know Am Coming;" (U.S District Court for the District of New Jersey)

Sarpong’s alleged scheme was outlined in a 27-page federal indictment unsealed Wednesday in Camden, New Jersey. It paints him as a grifter living in the south New Jersey town of Millville, with tentacles that reached out to at least 30 victims and three co-conspirators in the U.S. and the West African nation of Ghana.

Federal court records reveal that Sarpong was arrested Wednesday, a day after being charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
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Two non-combat deaths under investigation

Pentagon IDs soldier who died in noncombat incident in northern Syria

STARS AND STRIPES
By CHAD GARLAND
Published: April 29, 2019

The Defense Department has identified the American servicemember who died Monday while supporting Operation Inherent Resolve in northern Syria.

Pfc. Michael A. Thomason, 28, of Lincoln Park, Mich., died of “wounds sustained from a non-combat incident” in Kobani, Syria, according to a statement issued late Monday by the Pentagon.

Thomason was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), out of Fort Campbell, Ky., the statement said.
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South Korea-based soldier dies while on leave in Maryland

STARS AND STRIPES
By KIM GAMEL
Published: April 29, 2019

SEOUL, South Korea — An 18-year-old soldier serving with the 2nd Infantry Division in South Korea died while on leave in Maryland, the Army said Monday, adding the circumstances surrounding her death are under investigation.

Pvt. Courtney Shields, a signal support systems specialist from Bryans Road, Md., was found unresponsive Friday while on leave in her home state. She was taken to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead, according to a press release.
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Tender moment when blindfolded son hears Dad's voice

Soldier surprises son with tearful homecoming during Taekwondo practice

WTHR
March 19, 2019

LEBANON, Tenn. (WTHR) - A soldier posed as a sparring partner to surprise his young son in a tear-jerking homecoming surprise.

Nine-year-old Luca Cesternino had a blindfold on as he sparred during his Taekwondo class near Nashville Monday night. He had no idea his partner was his dad.

Once Tennessee Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Rob Cesternino called his son by his nickname, the boy stopped, asked "Daddy?" and ripped his blindfold off.

After seeing his father, Luca jumped into his arms for a tearful reunion.

SSG Cesternino was home after spending ten months serving in Jordan and southern Syria. He came home a few days earlier than Luca expected, setting the stage for the big surprise.

go here if video does not load because it is one that you'll be happy you watched.

Mattis sticks to his ethics and quit with class

Pentagon chief Mattis quits, citing policy differences with Trump

Reuters
PHIL STEWART AND STEVE HOLLAND
Dec 20th 2018

Mattis, along with other national security aides, was said to have opposed Trump's decision to remove U.S. troops from Syria. Many U.S. lawmakers have expressed concern about the decision and asked Trump to reconsider.

WASHINGTON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, a stabilizing force in President Donald Trump's Cabinet, abruptly announced his resignation on Thursday and said Trump should pick a successor whose views align more with his own.

Mattis' resigned a day after Trump announced that U.S. troops in Syria would be withdrawn, a decision that upended American policy in the region, and on the same day that officials said the president was considering a substantial U.S. pullout from the long-running conflict in Afghanistan.

"Because you have a right to a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, I believe it is right for me to step down from my position," Mattis said in his resignation letter, released by the Pentagon.
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92 Lost in Black Sea Russian Military Plane Crash

No apparent survivors in deadly Russian plane crash
CNN
By Max Blau
Updated 6:02 AM ET, Sun December 25, 2016

(CNN)A Russian military plane reported missing Sunday with 92 people aboard has crashed, leaving no apparent survivors and a trail of plane wreckage in the Black Sea near Sochi, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

A Tupolev Tu-154 plane that was carrying 84 passengers and eight crew members disappeared from radar Sunday morning local time after taking off from the Adler airport near the Black Sea city, state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported.

The plane, which first took off from Moscow, was headed to the Russian Hmeymim airbase in Latakia, Syria, where the country has a large military presence, for a concert ahead of New Year's Eve, a source told Russia's state news agency Tass.
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Death of Air Force Lt. Col. Under Investigation

Washington airman dies from non-combat injury in Asia
KING 5 News and Associated Press
August 06, 2016

LANSING, Mich. - A U.S. airman assigned to Washington's Camp Murray has died in southwest Asia from an injury not related to combat.

Lt. Col. Flando Jackson (Credit: Washington Military Department)

The Defense Department says Saturday that Lt. Col. Flando Jackson's death on Thursday is under investigation.

Officials say the 45-year-old Jackson was supporting Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S. military campaign against Islamic State forces and terrorists at war against the governments of Iraq and Syria.
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Family Searching for Veteran Army Ranger and Wisconsin Police Officer

UPDATE

Missing Army Veteran Bruce Windorski Found Alive

from NBC News

Wisconsin man who battled Islamic State in Syria missing
Journal Sentinel
Karen Herzog
October 24, 2015

A former Army Ranger and police officer from Wisconsin who joined the war against Islamic State in Syria for several months earlier this year has been missing for the past week, according to his wife.

Jerrit Okimosh Courtney Windorski of Gillett and her husband, Bruce, are shown on their wedding anniversary in May. Bruce Windorski, who had joined the fight against the Islamic State in Syria earlier this year, has been missing for a week, according to his wife.

"He never talked about going back overseas, but he probably wouldn't have talked to me about it because he wanted to protect me," said Courtney Windorski of Gillett, who reported her husband, Bruce, missing last Sunday when he failed to return from what he told her would be an overnight with other veterans who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Bruce Windorski, 40, was featured in a Sept. 5 Wall Street Journal article about American veterans who have voluntarily gone on their own to fight Islamic State.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation estimates that fewer than 100 Americans have done what Bruce Windorski did in January, when he left his home north of Green Bay without telling his wife and two children what he was doing.

After arriving in Syria, he kept in touch with them whenever possible. He returned home Easter weekend in April.

Bruce Windorski had fantasized for years about visiting Kirkuk, Iraq, where his older brother, Phil, died in 2009 when his Army helicopter was shot down, according to The Wall Street Journal article.

In January, he caught a flight to Iraq with plans to visit the area where his brother died, which didn't work out. He instead took up arms as a westerner alongside the People's Defense Units, or YPG, battling the Islamic State in Syria.
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Americans Volunteer to Fight ISIS in Syria
9/4/2015
Two American military veterans decided to fight with a Kurdish militia against ISIS in Syria. They captured their harrowing journey on video, and say the Kurds need more support from the U.S. to succeed. Photo: Bruce Windorski

Parents of Missing Marine Veteran Use Social Media

Family of Missing Marine Veteran Launches Social Media Effort 
Marine Corps Times
Derrick Perkins
Staff Writer
March 12, 2015

Advocates of missing Marine-turned-journalist Austin Tice hope urging his supporters to temporarily go dark will shed light on the veteran's whereabouts.

 The #FreeAustinTice campaign, launched last month by international nonprofit Reporters Without Borders at the request of Tice's parents, encourages supporters to don a blindfold, take a photo and head to social media.

After posting the image to Twitter or Facebook with the hashtag, they are encouraged to sign a petition calling on the White House to boost efforts to free Tice.

Tice, a veteran Marine captain who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, went missing in Syria after entering the battle-ravaged nation to cover the intensifying, ever-internecine civil war there.

Tice put a law degree at Georgetown University on hold in 2012 to travel to Syria, where he filed award-winning stories for CBS News, McClatchy Newspapers and the Washington Post.
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Iraq Veteran Returns to Fight for Assyrian Christians

Iraq Vet Joins Fight Against ISIS 
Video report from ABC News
He is fighting for Iraq's Assyrian Christians
World News Videos | US News Videos

ISIS abducts scores of Christians in northeastern Syria, groups say
CNN
By Greg Botelho and Gul Tuysuz
February 24, 2015

CNN)Assyrians in northeastern Syria villages awoke Tuesday to ISIS militants at their doors, with the Islamist extremists abducting scores from the Christian group and forcing hundreds more to run for their lives, an advocate said.

The ISIS fighters burst past a few men guarding the village of Tal Shamiram at about 4 a.m. (9 p.m. ET Monday) and abducted children, women and the elderly, said Usama Edward, founder of the Assyrian Human Rights Network.

Talking to CNN from Stockholm, Sweden, Edward said that between 70 and 100 people were kidnapped in that village and others in the same cluster near Tal Tamer.
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Iraq Army Ranger Veteran Beheaded by ISIS

American veteran executed by ISIS?
MYFOX Tampa Bay
Associated Press
Posted: Nov 16, 2014

The Islamic State group released a graphic video on Sunday in which a black-clad militant claimed to have beheaded U.S. aid worker Peter Kassig, who was captured last year.

The militant was standing over a severed head, but it was not immediately possible to confirm that it was Kassig, 26, who was pictured in the video. U.S. officials said they were working to determine the video's authenticity and the Kassig family said it was awaiting the outcome of the investigation.

The video, which was posted on websites used by the group in the past, appeared to be the latest in a series of blood-soaked messages to the U.S. warning of further brutality if it does not abandon its air campaign in Iraq and Syria.

Kassig, a former U.S. Army Ranger, was providing medical aid to Syrians fleeing the civil war when he was captured inside Syria on Oct. 1, 2013. His friends say he converted to Islam in captivity and took the first name Abdul-Rahman.
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US Soldier's Families Targets of Jihadist Tweets

Soldiers’ families and homes may be IS targets
The Army Times
October 6, 2014

An image made available on a jihadist website this summer shows militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant with the trademark Jihadists flag in Iraq. U.S. officials are concerned IS supporters may attack Americans in the States.
(Photo: AFP/Getty Images )

Soldiers and their families should be warned the Islamic State is calling on its followers in the United States to use social media sites to “find the addresses of service members, show up (at their homes) and slaughter them,” according to the Army Threat Integration Center.

“ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) has called on lone offenders in the U.S. to use the “yellow pages,” social media sites like Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter to find the addresses,” states the ARTIC special assessment published Sept. 25.

The warning is “based on a law enforcement bulletin citing a jihadist tweet,” ARTIC states.

Fort Campbell officials did not return calls seeking comment on Monday.

After U.S. began air strikes in Iraq in August and Syria in late September, IS supporters launched a Twitter campaign threatening to retaliate with violence in the U.S., according to the report.

“A recent audio message from an ISIL spokesman called, for the first time, for lone offender attacks in the homeland in retaliation for U.S. military operations in Iraq and Syria,” the ARTIC report states.

“According to the US government as many as 300 Americans are fighting with ISIL. ... There is concern that these Americans could return to the U.S. and commit attacks using the skills they learned overseas.”
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Former U.S. Army Ranger Peter Kassig held by ISIS

Peter Kassig's parents make video plea to ISIS
CNN
By Arwa Damon and Michael Martinez
October 4, 2014

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Ed and Paula Kassig urge ISIS to release their son
Peter Kassig changed his first name to Abdul-Rahman when converting to Islam
"We implore his captors to show mercy," his father says on videotaped message
"Most of all, know that we love you," his mother says to son

(CNN) -- The family of ISIS hostage and U.S. aid worker Peter Kassig released a YouTube video Saturday asking his captors to show mercy and free him.

Referring to him as Abdul-Rahman -- a first name his family says he took, having converted to Islam while being held hostage -- father Ed Kassig said: "We implore his captors to show mercy and use their power to let our son go."

Peter Kassig, 26, first went to the Middle East as a U.S. soldier and returned as a medical worker, feeling compelled to help victims of war.

His mother, Paula, addressed her son in the video: "We are so very proud of you and the work you have done to bring humanitarian aid to the Syrian people," she said.
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'LET OUR SON GO'

How former U.S. Army Ranger threatened with beheading fought in Iraq and then returned to Middle East to run Syrian aid group
Daily Mail
By EMMA GLANFIELD and WILLS ROBINSON FOR MAILONLINE
3 October 2014

Former U.S. Army Ranger and Iraq war veteran Peter Kassig, 26, is believed to be the latest U.S hostage to be held by Islamic State militants in Syria after he featured at the end of Alan Henning's execution video

Peter Kassig appears in latest ISIS video showing British aid worker's death
In footage, 26-year-old is shown on his knees as he is held by 'Jihadi John'
Video released tonight claims to show beheading of hostage Alan Henning
'Jihadi John' tells camera that President Obama's aerial bombardment in Syria means that 'it is only right to continue to strike necks of your people'
Mr Kassig enlisted in the Army in 2006 and served in the Iraq war in 2007
He then went to provide aid to Syrian war refugees and his family said that while in captivity he converted to Islam and took the name Abdul Rahman

The 26-year-old, from Indianapolis, (pictured) enlisted in the Army in 2004 and was deployed to Iraq in 2007

An Iraq war veteran who launched his own aid group to provide medical help for Syrian war refugees has been named as the next potential victim of ISIS.

Former U.S. Army Ranger Peter Kassig, 26, has been confirmed as the latest American hostage to be held by Islamic State militants after he featured at the end of a video showing the beheading of British aid worker Alan Henning.

In the footage, which emerged on the internet tonight, Mr Kassig, from Indianapolis, is shown on his knees next to 'Jihadi John'.

The young aid worker is being held by the Jihadi who tells the camera that President Obama's aerial bombardment in Syria means that 'it is only right to continue to strike the necks of your people.'
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Military spouses spar with CNN's Starr

Military spouses spar with CNN's Starr
Army Times
By Karen Jowers
Staff Writer
September 6, 2013

Longtime CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has apologized to two military spouses who were irked by her comments in an Aug. 29 report on possible military action in Syria.

In the report, Starr said there is no question that the military can afford another mission.

“And I don’t think it’s really going to affect military families at all,” she said, according to a transcript. “This is going to be, if it it is ordered, a cruise missile strike, no U.S. troops on the ground, Navy ships out in the eastern Mediterranean that would be on deployment anyhow. So the capability is there. The money is there. Because what we’re talking about is something that will last, we are told, just potentially a couple of days.”

In a letter posted Sept. 4 to the HuffingtonPost.com, military spouses Rebekah Sanderlin and Molly Blake, both journalists, wrote: “There is no such thing as a person-less war. Our military cannot afford for Americans to forget that wars and battles and military strikes are fought by troops, that troops are people, and that those people have families.”

As for being able to afford another mission, the spouses wrote: “In our military communities this summer we couldn’t even afford to pay federal employees for a five-day work week,” referring to the six weeks of one-day-a-week furloughs ordered for most Defense Department civilians.

The spouses described difficulty getting doctor’s appointments and counseling services to deal with problems created by 12 years of war.
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Iraq war veteran Emily Yates arrested on Friday captured on video

Sep 1, 2013
Iraq war veteran Emily Yates was arrested on Friday after a dispute with police about where she could stand while playing her banjo during a protest against U.S. military action in Syria. Video uploaded to Live Leak shows Yates asking Federal Parks Police why she could not stand in a shaded area of Independence Mall in Philadelphia.

After several minutes of discussion, two officers bent Yates over a park bench and handcuffed her. "We live in a police state," she shouts! "We live in a f*cking police state! They're damaging my body and my personal property! I went to war for this country! Stop manhandling me! Stop! Stop! Help! Help!"

By the time Yates is dragged from the park, at least eight officers are participating in the arrest.

A web page claiming to be the "Emily Yates Defense Fund" insisted that the activist "was not engaged in any illegal activity and was not told why she was being attacked."

"While she was busy playing a song, park rangers accosted her. When she demanded an explanation for their aggression, they pinned her onto a park bench and dragged her off to an undisclosed location," according to the website. "We are not being told where she is being held and she has not been allowed any communication with the outside world."

Watch this video from Live Leak, broadcast Aug. 31, 2013.

Syria? What about the humanitarian crisis of veterans right here?

Syria? What about the humanitarian crisis of veterans right here?
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
September 4, 2013

When thinking about Syria, think of this. We have a humanitarian crisis right here. We didn't take care of the veterans of Afghanistan, or Iraq, or the Gulf War, or Vietnam or any other war. If they do what they want to in Syria do they really have plans this time? Plans to end it? Plans to pay for it? Plans to take care of the widows? Plans to take care of the wounded?

Too many have said no one knew how long it would take in Afghanistan but that is a lie since the government was involved with getting Russia out of Afghanistan. Too many said they didn't know how long it would take for Iraq to be finished. That is a lie as well since after the Gulf War the warnings about going into Iraq from Kuwait were also known. They knew it would not be over fast.

Too many said there was evidence of this and that back then but just like most wars they got the troops into, it turned out to be wrong. Listening to the heads talk about "what we know" when it comes to Syria causes most of us to remember what we were told before.

As for the wounded and disabled we already have consider the simple fact of the VA being responsible for less than 4 million disabled veterans out of 22,328,000 and this nation of over 300 million can't even take care of them.

U.S. Military Deaths In Afghanistan Reach 2,133, Injuries At 19,200
CBS News
September 3, 2013

Since the start of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan, 19,200 U.S. service members have been wounded in hostile action, according to the Defense Department.

WASHINGTON (AP) – As of Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2013, at least 2,133 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan as a result of the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to an Associated Press count.
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At least 2,122 dead? How about the thousands of suicides tied to Afghanistan and even more tied to Iraq? The VA latest "study" found at least 22 veterans a day take their own lives. That is 8,030 a year.

That means during 12 years of war there have been 96,360 suicides.

Secretary Hagel said "The Department of Defense has no more important responsibility than supporting and protecting those who defend our country and that means we must do everything possible to prevent military suicide." but as we have already witnessed, the $100 million he is talking about in new funding is a fraction of what they already spent. If it worked, no amount of money would be too much but considering the results of the Pentagon spending over $4 billion for 2007 to 2012, added to the money spent by other departments, money spent on the suicide prevention hotline and the VA, they have been on the wrong track but fail to notice they have been wrong on this as well.

Charities set up for veterans has become a billion dollar a year industry but we see more and more veterans suffering as the fundraisers make money for themselves.

So exactly when will the leaders of this country talking about what Syria is doing to their own people when they can't notice what they are doing to the people they expected to fight the other wars?

Marine Corps Website hacked by Syrian "electronic Army"

Syrian Electronic Army Hacks Marines Website
Wall Street Journal
By Julian E. Barnes
September 2, 2013

Screen shot of Marine Corps website.

A collection of pro-Syrian government hackers apparently defaced a Marine Corps recruitment website Monday.

The Syrian Electronic Army, which has hacked a series of websites, posted a letter on the Marines.com website arguing the Syrian government is “fighting a vile common enemy.”

“The Syrian army should be your ally not your enemy,” the letter read. “Refuse your orders and concentrate on the real reason every soldier joins their military, to defend their homeland. You’re more than welcome to fight alongside our army rather than against it.”
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No easy answers for Syria

No easy answers for Syria
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
August 28, 2013

The reports coming out of Syria are heartbreaking, but so have reports coming out of other nations regarding the way they treat their own people. The easy thing to say is "do something" but no one seems too interested in what comes after we do "something" and history should have taught us that lesson.

Afghanistan taught a lesson after Congressman Charlie Wilson convinced Congress to fund Afghans trying to get Russian forces out of there. The Afghans were being slaughtered and had very little to fight back with. No one was asking what would happen afterwards.

The answer came with Osama Bin Laden. "The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan begins late in the year. It profoundly influences bin Laden's course. Muslims around the world rally to the Afghan cause." But while he was furious over this, it was not until the Gulf War when he vowed to take revenge on the US.

When the Gulf War ended, President George H. W. Bush decided that sending troops into Iraq from Kuwait would cost too many lives. General Norman Schwarzkopf said "Had we taken all of Iraq, we would have been like a dinosaur in the tar pit - we would still be there, and we, not the United Nations, would be bearing the costs of that occupation."

We knew how long and what it took to get Russia out of Afghanistan before the troops were sent in back in 2001 but did not prepare for the wounded that they should have known would come. The VA was not ready but no one was. They also knew what would happen when troops were sent into Iraq. History told us much but it seems as if reporters were sticking their fingers in their ears so they would not have to hear what was being created.

The result of over a decade of war has been catastrophic for Iraq, Afghanistan and the US. No one wanted to pay the bill any more than they wanted to claim responsibility for what they had already done.

The fact that we have so many veterans suffering with wounds to their bodies and minds, military families falling apart and apathy from the other 93% of the population, leaves many with a bitter taste in our mouths. No one thought beyond wanting to "do something" so the troops pay the price, not just while deployed, but for the rest of their lives.

Now we see what can follow an attack by the US on Syria will bring. "An imminent U.S. strike on Syrian government targets in response to the alleged gassing of civilians last week has the potential to draw the United States into the country’s civil war, former U.S. officials said Tuesday, warning that history doesn’t bode well for such limited retaliatory interventions. The best historical parallels — the 1998 cruise missile strikes on targets in Iraq, Afghanistan and Sudan — are rife with unintended consequences and feature little success."

We've heard it all before. Some scream that "we can't let those innocent people die" but no one seems to asking what will follow doing this. Some scream "we have to respond" but never seem too interested in what we can cause. No one seems too interested in the fact this very well could cause our troops to be sent yet again into a nation to risk their lives for something politicians decided to do without thinking about the next day.

So who will pay for this war?

Reporter, Marine vet, Austin Tice likely in Syrian custody

Reporter, Marine vet, likely in Syrian custody
By Bethany Crudele
Staff writer
Marine Corps Times
Posted : Thursday Aug 30, 2012

LINKEDIN Freelance journalist Austin Tice is being held by the Syrian government, McClatchy Newspapers and the Washington Post said. The former Marine captain went missing in Syria as one of the few foreign reporters covering the Syrian civil war.

Former Marine and freelance journalist Austin Tice is likely being held in custody by the Syrian government, according to McClatchy Newspapers and The Washington Post.

Tice, 31, a former Marine captain who left the Corps early this year, was one of the few foreign journalists reporting about the Syrian civil war from inside the country. Friends, family and colleagues have not heard from him since Aug. 11.

Tice filed reports for various media outlets, including McClatchy, the Post and Al Jazeera English, the international television news channel.

“If he is in fact being held by the Syrian government, we would expect that he is being well cared for and that he will quickly be released,” said Anders Gyllenhaal, McClatchy vice president for news, in a statement posted to the McClatchy website.
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Syria condemns attack, accuses US of lies

Syria condemns attack, accuses U.S. of 'lies'
The U.S. military conducted a successful strike into Syria to kill a suspected al Qaeda facilitator, a U.S. official said Monday. Syrian Foreign Minister Waleed Mouallem disputed the U.S. explanation as "lies." "Killing civilians in international law means terrorist aggression," he said. Further acts of aggression will not be tolerated, Mouallem said. "If they do it again, we will defend our territories." full story

Bush spreading war into Syria now?

US soldiers attacked building inside Syria: reportAgence France-Presse
Published: Sunday October 26, 2008



DAMASCUS (AFP) — American helicopter-borne troops launched an assault on Sunday on a building in a Syrian border village with Iraq, killing eight civilians, official Syrian media reported.

"Four American helicopters violated Syrian airspace around 16:45 local time (1345 GMT) on Sunday," state television and the official SANA news agency said.

"American soldiers" who had emerged from helicopters "attacked a civilian building under construction and fired at workmen inside, causing eight deaths," the reports said.

"The helicopters then left Syrian territory towards Iraqi territory," SANA said.

Earlier, the private television channel al-Dunia said nine civilians died in the attack on the village of Al-Sukkiraya, around 550 kilometres (340 miles) northeast of the capital in the Abu Kamal area.

"We are in the process of investigating this," Sergeant Brooke Murphy, a US military spokeswoman, told AFP in Baghdad.
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