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NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND 7115 South Boundary Boulevard MacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101 Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 November 16, 2005Release Number: 05-11-72 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AL QAEDA IN IRAQ EMIR OF SADAH BAGGED BAGHDAD, Iraq – Multi-National Forces used multiple intelligence sources and tips from concerned citizens to locate a known al Qaeda in Iraq safe house harboring terrorists and foreign fighters Nov. 7. Upon arrival at the terrorist safe house, Multi-National Forces detained numerous terrorists and foreign fighters; among them was Sadiq Ayadah Husayn Matar (aka Abu Ahmed), the al Qaeda in Iraq...

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...