Coalition completing 'Steel Curtain' sweep in Husaybah
November 9, 2005
AR RAMADI, Iraq (Army News Service, Nov. 9, 2005) – Operation Steel Curtain continued into its fifth day as Iraqi forces and U.S. Soldiers and Marines completed clearing operations to root out any remaining insurgents in Husaybah, near the Syrian border.
By the fourth day of the operation, 180 suspected terrorist had been detained and 17 large weapons caches had been discovered.
Iraqi Army soldiers and U.S. forces set conditions for a permanent security presence within the city of Husaybah, officials said. They said patrols and raids were also being conducted to clear out any remaining al Qaeda-led insurgents.
Husaybah residents evacuated to a vacant housing development, believed to be a former Iraqi Army housing area, are remaining in place until Husaybah is safe for them to return to their homes, officials said.
Iraqi soldiers, U.S. Marines and U.S. Soldiers continue to find roadside bombs, car bombs and weapons caches throughout the city.
Iraqi Soldiers continue to provide security, food, water and medical care to about 900 Husaybah residents temporarily displaced by the fighting. Dated census information stated the city’s population to be approximately 30,000, though the city was largely deserted due to the tribal fighting that took place over the past several months against the al Qaeda-led insurgents.
The goal of Operation Steel Curtain is to restore Iraqi sovereign control along the Syrian border and destroy the terrorists operating throughout Al Qaim region, officials said. The offensive is part of Operation Sayaid (Hunter), designed to deny “al Qaeda in Iraq” the ability to operate in the Euphrates River Valley and to establish a permanent security presence along the Syrian border.
(Editor’s note: Information provided by Multi-National Force-Iraq Public Affairs. For more information, see ‘Steel Curtain’ drops on terrorists near Syrian border.)
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