Palestinian Group Pledges Response to Any Attack on Syria

A Palestinian group allied with the Syrian regime said Monday it would retaliate if the country was attacked, as Western nations weigh military action after alleged chemical weapons use near Damascus.

"The regional interests of those who participate in aggression against Syria will be legitimate targets," Anwar Raja, a spokesman for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) told Agence France Presse in Damascus.

"If an attack is launched against Syria, it will be directed against us. We and Syria are in the same political alliance of the resistance," Raja said, referring to a joint stance against Israel.

"We will wage war alongside Syria."

"Those who abstain from this battle will be traitors and will be tied to the aggression," he added.

The statements come as the international community weighs a military response to the reported use of chemical weapons in an attack outside Damascus.

The PFLP-GC, a hardline but secular militant group, is fiercely pro-Syrian regime and has battled against Syrian opposition forces, including in the Palestinian Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus.

On Friday, Palestinian and Lebanese officials said a position belonging to the group had been targeted by Israeli raids in Lebanon.

The raids came after four rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel, though the PFLP-GC denied responsibility for the attack, which was claimed by a different Palestinian group.

Syria is home to some 500,000 Palestinians, many of whom have been displaced by the country's conflict.