US launches anti-terror offensive near Syrian border

The American military launched a major new offensive today, involving about 2,500 Marines, soldiers and sailors near the Syrian border, aimed at destroying an al-Qaida in Iraq network.

The “Operation Steel Curtain” offensive in the town of Husaybah in the western province of Anbar would remove militants and their “safe houses” from the area to improve security before Iraq’s parliamentary election on December 15, the US military said.