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CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, Iraq, Nov. 10, 2005 – Iraqi and U.S. forces began clearing-and-holding operations in the city of Karabilah, about two kilometers east of Husaybah, as Operation Steel Curtain entered its sixth day, officials said here today. The new phase of is intended to set conditions for a permanent security presence within the city. Patrols and targeted raids are also being conducted in Husaybah, where the operation was first launched Nov. 5, to root out any remaining al Qaeda in Iraq-led terrorists. Intelligence indicates some terrorists might have abandoned Husaybah once Iraqi and U.S. forces began clearing that city...

Day one of Operation Steel Curtain, which is aimed at dislodging al Qaeda from the border town of Husaybah and estabishing a permanent presence of Iraqi troops, has ended. CNN's Arwa Damon is embedded with the Marines fighting in Husaybah., and reports the town was largely abandoned due to fighting between the pro-government Albu Mahla tribe and the pro-al Qaeda Karabilah tribe over the summer. The street fighting has been reported to have been intense in the center and southwest corner of the city. Over thirty roadside bombs and booby trapped homes have been uncovered, along with two car bombs....

HADITHA, Iraq - U.S. troops pushed through streets sown with bombs Tuesday in their biggest operation this year in western Iraq, seeking to retake three Euphrates River towns from al-Qaida insurgents. At least five U.S. service members have been killed in the fighting. Operation River Gate — launched at the start of the holy month of Ramadan — was the second U.S. offensive in a week in Anbar province, near the Syrian border. Al-Qaida in Iraq called for intensified attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces during the Muslim period of fasting, which started Tuesday for the nation's Sunnis. Blasts from...

Release A050916b CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, AR RAMADI, Iraq – Coalition Forces conducted an air strike Sept. 15 against a known terrorist safe house and weapons cache in the western Al Anbar Province border town of Karabilah . The target was an abandoned school used by al-Qaida in Iraq terrorists to carry out attacks against local civilians and Coalition Forces. At the time of the strike, terrorists were also observed firing mortars from outside of the building. Two AV8-B Harrier jets destroyed the building using precision-guided 500 lb. bombs. Multiple secondary explosions were observed by Coalition Forces after the strike. Nine...

U.S. Marine Jets Bomb Two Bridges in Iraq By SAMEER N. YACOUB, Associated Press Writer U.S. Marine jets Tuesday attacked two bridges across the Euphrates River near the Syrian border to prevent insurgents from using them to move foreign fighters and munitions into major cities, the U.S. command said. A Marine statement said U.S. and Iraqi forces also destroyed a "foreign fighter safe house," killed two foreigners and arrested three others during a raid Tuesday in the same area as the bridge attack. The fighting occurred a day after U.N. chief Kofi Annan said Iraq had become an even greater...

<p>KARABILAH, Iraq — U.S. Marines and Iraqi forces battled insurgents on two fronts Saturday in a restive western province, killing about 50 militants in a dusty frontier town in the military's latest campaign to stop foreign fighters infiltrating from neighboring Syria (search).</p>

American forces attacked a dusty border town from the air and with tank fire yesterday, capturing 100 militants in the third major recent effort to uproot insurgents who are believed to use the region to sneak foreign suicide bombers in from Syria. "Coalition aircraft using precision-guided munitions destroyed these targets. Only buildings occupied by insurgents firing on Marines and Iraqi soldiers were bombed. Three buildings were confirmed destroyed," Pool said. No American or Iraqi military casualties were reported. Marines carried out two major operations in the Karabilah area last month, killing 125 insurgents in the first campaign, Operation Matador, and...

U.S. Marines said Saturday that about 50 insurgents have been killed so far in the American military's latest campaign to stop foreign fighters infiltrating Iraq from neighboring Syria. About 100 insurgents have also been captured in the operation that began Friday in Karabilah, about 200 miles west of Baghdad. The campaign was being waged by about 1,000 Marines and Iraqi forces, backed by main battle tanks. Karabilah is just outside Qaim in the volatile Anbar province.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - American troops bombarded a dusty border town with airstrikes and tank fire Friday, capturing 100 militants in the third major recent attempt to uproot tenacious insurgents who are believed to use the region to sneak foreign suicide bombers in from Syria. Four suicide attacks around Iraq, including one in the capital, killed 11 people as rebels seeking to lead Iraq into a civil war intensified the pace and scope of attacks against Iraq's still-weak security forces. More than 60 people have died in suicide attacks over the past two days. In a campaign codenamed Romhe, Arabic for...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. fighter planes equipped with precision-guided missiles launched airstrikes on an Iraqi town near the Syrian border Saturday, killing about 40 insurgents who were stopping and searching civilian cars, the military said. Seven missiles were fired at heavily armed insurgents near Karabilah, close to the volatile town of Qaim, the Marines said in a statement.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. air strikes killed an estimated 40 insurgents in western Iraq on Saturday, the military said, but in Baghdad a suicide bomber attacked the headquarters of an elite police unit, killing three. Seven precision-guided U.S. air strikes on the outskirts of the town of Karabilah killed the insurgents who were stopping vehicles at gunpoint and threatening Iraqi civilians, said a U.S. military statement. The military said there were no U.S. casualties when Marines engaged large groups of insurgents armed with rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns and AK-47 assault rifles. The U.S. military said there were no reports of...

BAGHDAD , Iraq – Acting on intelligence sources and tips provided by Iraqi citizens, Multi-National forces conducted simultaneous raids in the Rahwah and Karabilah regions to capture or kill terrorists within the Abu Musab al-Zarqawi network. Multiple sources of intelligence indicated that elements of the Abu Musab al-Zarqawi terrorist network were operating in the area, including key lieutenants, suicide bombers, and a contingent of foreign fighters. Multi-National forces engaged and destroyed these targets. Operations against suspected foreign fighter strongholds resulted in killing over a dozen terrorists and foreign fighters. Specifically the bodies of three Saudis and one Moroccan have been...