UNITED NATIONS, Oct 29: Syria on Tuesday accused the United States of committing an act of “aggression” when its four helicopters led an attack inside its territory killing eight civilians and asked the UN Security Council to prevent future attacks.

In a letter addressed to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Chinese Ambassador Zhang Yesui, who holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council, Syria asked the UN to act to prevent repeat of the attack by the US helicopters inside its territory.

It charged that on Oct 26, four US helicopters coming from Iraq violated the Syrian airspace in al-Boukamal area targeting a civilian building and firing at workers.

Syria claimed in the letter that “act of aggression” killed eight innocent civilians, US officials said they killed an important Al Qaeda operative engaged in smuggling foreign fighters into Iraq for terrorist activities.

Officially, the United States has not admitted that its helicopters were involved in the attack but officials say Washington does not generally admit attacks carried out by its intelligence agencies.

Damascus also asked the council and UN member states to “assume responsibilities to prevent recurrences of such dangerous violation and hold the aggressor responsible for killing Syrian innocent citizens to keep security and stability in the Middle East.”

However, the letter did not say what exactly Syria wants the council to do.