(VOVworld) – Iraqi military helicopters have destroyed a convoy of Jihad militants inside Syrian territory as it was approaching the Iraqi border, killing at least 8, said the Iraqi Interior Ministry's Brigadier General Saad Maan.

The attack was the first time Iraq's military has said it carried out an offensive in Syria. (Photo: Reuters)

It is believed to be the first time Iraq has said it has carried out an attack inside Syria. Saad Maan said the army struck eight tanker trucks in Wadi Suwab inside Syrian territory as they were trying to enter Iraqi territory to provide the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) with fuel, noting that the Iraqi army’s responsibility is to protect the Iraqi border.
ISIL operations in Iraq began with the US military intervention in Iraq in 2003 and spread to Syria during early resistance to President Bashar al-Assad’s government. The ISIL has conducted several suicide bombings in Baghdad, Iraq. Its most recent assault was against a Shiite march on April 25, killing 36 people.