Iraqi army helicopters attacked a ’jihadist convoy’ inside eastern Syria on Sunday as it tried to approach the border, killing at least eight people, an interior ministry spokesman said.

Iraqi army helicopters attacked a 'jihadist convoy' inside eastern Syria on Sunday as it tried to approach the border, killing at least eight people, an interior ministry spokesman said.

"The army struck eight tanker trucks in Wadi Suwab inside Syrian territory as they were trying to enter Iraqi territory to provide the (jihadist) Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) with fuel," Brigadier General Saad Maan said.

It was the first time Iraq's military has said it carried out an attack in Syria, and Maan said "there was no coordination with the Syrian regime" over the strike.

"Our responsibility now is to protect our border," Maan said.