The Syrian government ordered an American school and a U.S. cultural center in Damascus closed Tuesday in response to a deadly U.S. attack on a village near the Iraq border, the state-run news agency said.

U.S. officials said the raid killed a top operative of al-Qaida in Iraq who intelligence suggested was about to conduct an attack in Iraq, but Syria and the Iraqi government criticized the raid.

The operative, known as Abu Ghadiyah, was the leader of the most prolific network that moves foreign fighters linked to al-Qaida into Iraq. He was the target of the Sunday afternoon raid on the compound in Sukkariyeh, Syria.

Outside the Damascus Community School, known popularly as the “American School,” in the upscale Maliki neighborhood, activities seemed normal. Drivers waited outside the building to pick up the foreign, mostly Arab pupils as they left for home shortly before sunset.

Several students and a foreign teacher said they were not aware of the closure order and declined to comment further.