Iranian president condemns US raid inside Syria

Tehran: Iran's official news agency says President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has condemned a recent US raid inside Syria near its border with Iraq as a "savage act."

IRNA says Ahmadinejad called his Syrian counterpart, Bashar Assad, Friday to express Iranian support.

The report quotes Ahmadinejad as calling Sunday's raid a "blind and savage act."

Washington has not formally acknowledged the raid. But US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have said the target was a top Al Qaida in Iraq figure who operated a network smuggling fighters into the war torn country.

Syria has said the raid only killed eight civilians and has challenged the US to prove it targeted an extremist.