WASHINGTON, June 23: A US attack last week on a convoy believed to have been carrying Iraqi leaders injured several Syrians and may have occurred inside Syrian territory, a US Defence Department spokesman said on Monday.

The attack occurred on Thursday near the Syrian border against suspected “leadership targets” in a convoy headed toward Syria, said Lieutenant Colonel Gary Keck.

“There were a few Syrian nationals involved in the incident,” said the Pentagon spokesman. “A few may have been injured. We are treating those.”

The statement said US forces targetted suspected “regime figures” from Saddam Hussein’s toppled government in the attack, but there was no indication the former Iraqi president or his sons were killed, US officials said on Monday.

The officials said an unspecified number of Syrian border guards also were wounded in last Wednesday’s operation near the Iraqi city of Qaim involving US special operations troops and aircraft.

“There’s no conclusive evidence as to who was in there. And then, of course, you would need DNA evidence to actually identify anyone,” a defense official said.

The officials did not say whether US forces crossed into Syrian territory, and were vague about how the Syrian border guards became involved.

“It happened in a fairly remote area and some Syrian (border) guards were injured in the incident,” a US official said. “It’s not clear how they were injured, whether they were caught in a cross-fire or what. But we are, I believe, still treating three of them.”

Three officials said they were unaware of any DNA testing that has taken place to ascertain the identities of those killed in the attack.

“That is something that’s available to us where appropriate for site exploration,” said the US official, refusing to say whether or not such DNA samples were being taken.

US intelligence agencies previously collected DNA samples to use to identify Saddam.

The defense official said intelligence indicated that high-profile fugitives might be in the convoy that apparently was attempting to escape Iraq into Syria.

The US official said US forces acted on “time-sensitive” information relating to the whereabouts of “regime figures.”

“The thrust of our operations is to prevent high-visibility targets from departing. So we’re closely watching the border crossings,” the defense official said.

Asked about the operation, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters: “I can confirm for you that there were military operations against (a) leadership target or targets. And this should be seen in keeping with the ongoing military effort in Iraq to bring justice to people who we believe are associated with the regime or are leaders in the regime.”

A captured top Iraqi official, Abid Hamid Mahmud, has told US interrogators that Saddam and his sons, Qusay and Uday, survived the recent US-led war to oust the Iraqi president, but US officials said they have not determined the truth of those statements.

US forces have targeted Saddam and his sons previously, including air strikes against two locations in the Baghdad area on March 20 and April 7. No proof has been found that they were killed in either attack. —Reuters/AFP