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American troops have established the first long-term military base along a major smuggling route near the Syrian border in a new effort to block potential suicide bombers from reaching targets in Baghdad and other major Iraqi cities. A force of 1,800 U.S. troops, responding to continuing concerns that foreign fighters are crossing the Syrian border into Iraq, recently began an operation that includes setting up a base 3 miles from the crossroads town of Rawah. By creating for the first time a base north of the Euphrates River along the strategic route that connects the Syrian border to roads leading...

WASHINGTON, July 22, 2005 – A strong partnership with coalition forces is improving the capability of Iraqi security forces and encouraging political development in Iraq's Anbar province, the area's top commander said today. About 10,000 Iraqi soldiers are in the province, all at various stages of readiness, said Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Stephen Johnson, commander of Multinational Force West and 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward). These forces have played an increasingly important role in security operations and are gaining valuable experience by fighting with coalition forces, he said. "They've been into combat with our forces, side by side," he said....

BAGHDAD, July 18 (KUNA) -- US fighter jets launched on Monday air attacks on locations suspected of being hideouts of insurgents in Rawa village, western Iraq. Both Iraqi and US forces took part in the un-named mission, launched early on Monday. Eyewitnesses said the US military launched a wide-scale operation in a number of locations in Rawa village, in Al-Anbar constituency. In another development, Iraqi security forces found a large weapon hideout in Mosul, north of Iraq, an Iraqi official said. The hideout included a large quantity of missiles, communication devices, military uniforms, knives and swords, the official added.

LONDON, JUNE 19 (KUNA) -- British Royal Air Force warplanes have been called into action in Iraq alongside American forces fighting close to the Syrian border, the BBC reported Sunday. The British GR4 Tornadoes were supporting a US operation against insurgents, the American military said. They used laser-guided bombs and missiles to support an attack on a building in Karabila, the BBC said. Around 1,000 US troops are targeting insurgent hide-outs in the offensive, known as Operation "Spear". The operation has seen heavy fighting in Karabila and other areas around the city of Qaim, in north-western Iraq's Anbar province, correspondents...

U.S. F-16 fighter planes dropped a series of 500 lb (220 kg) bombs on insurgent targets in western Iraq overnight as the U.S. military launched a heavy offensive against rebels near the Syrian border. Nine of the powerful bombs were dropped, the U.S. military said, two of them targeting suspected rebel safe houses near the town of Qaim, an insurgent stronghold on the Euphrates river about 20 km (12 miles) east of Iraq's border with Syria.

U.S. Launches Major Operation in West Iraq BAGHDAD, Iraq - The U.S. military launched a major combat operation Friday, sending 1,000 Marines and Iraqi soldiers to hunt for insurgents and foreign fighters in a volatile western province straddling Syria. Operation Spear started in the pre-dawn hours in Anbar province to hunt for insurgents and foreign fighters, the military said. The area, which straddles the Syrian border, is where U.S. forces said it killed about 40 militants in airstrikes in Karabilah on June 11. The operation came one day after Air Force Brig. Gen. Don Alston called the Syrian border the...

BAGHDAD, May 30 (KUNA) -- The US forces Monday killed 12 "foreign" militants in an attack on terrorist hideouts Western Iraq, a Multi-National Forces statement said. The statement said US marines attacked, on tip-off, hideouts of supporters of the fallen Saddam regime in the towns of Rawa and Al-Karabla in Al-Anbar province.

U.S. Troops Launch New Offensive in Iraq By ANTONIO CASTANEDA, Associated Press Writer 15 minutes ago HADITHA, Iraq - More than 1,000 U.S. troops on Wednesday swept into this city on the road to Syria to root out insurgents — including those loyal to terrorist mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi — after rebels damaged the hospital, knocked out the electricity and prevented police from entering. ADVERTISEMENT The American troops killed at least 10 suspected militants in Haditha, a Euphrates River city of 90,000 people — one of whom told the Marines that insurgents had recently killed her husband. Speaking inside her...

BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 25 - American and Iraqi military forces swept into the western Iraqi city of Haditha before dawn today and fought street battles with Islamist fighters in a new offensive to stamp out the violent insurgency that has plagued this country's restive west. More than 1,000 troops, including American marines and sailors and Iraqi Special Forces troops, took part in the fighting in Haditha, a Sunni Arab city on the Euphrates River about 180 miles west of Baghdad that American military officials say is a stopover point for Islamist fighters who slip through Iraq's porous border with Syria....

HADITHA, Iraq _ About 1,000 U.S. Marines, sailors and soldiers encircled this Euphrates River city in the troubled Anbar province before dawn on Wednesday, launching the second major anti-insurgent operation in this vast western region in less than a month. Helicopters swept down near palm tree groves to drop off Marines who blocked off one side of Haditha, while other troops on foot and in armored vehicles established checkpoints and moved toward the city's center. U.S. warplanes circled overhead. According to initial reports, three insurgents were killed during several fierce gunbattles that broke out after U.S. forces entered this town...

Baghdad, 25 May (AKI) - Around 1,000 US troops surrounded the city of Haditha in the western Anbar province on Wednesday, in the second major offensive in the region this month. Marines were helicoptered in to block off one side of the city while other troops approached on foot and in armoured vehicles, setting up checkpoints and sweeping through the city in search of insurgents. Several homes in Haditha were taken over by troops and used as observation and control centres, as part of Operation New Market. There were reports that at least three insurgents were killed during the fierce...

Fox News just annoucned that a major operation has begun in Western Iraq against terrorist strongholds. Information is very limited to help protect our troops. God bless those brave patriots and god bless George W Bush.

MILITARY OFFENSIVE IN IRAQ   May 16, 2005   A published report on a week-long battle between Marines and insurgents in western Iraq, near the Syrian border, said Marines were outgunned. A discussion with embedded reporter Ellen Knickmeyer, Baghdad bureau chief for The Washington Post, about her report.   MARGARET WARNER: Ellen Knickmeyer, welcome. Thanks for joining us. Give us a sense, first of all, how big this Marine offensive was in the west, and why did they launch it now? ELLEN KNICKMEYER: It was the largest operation they've had since Fallujah. At one point they had -- when...

Operation Matador Ends, Marines Continue to Monitor Area By Jim Garamone American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, May 14, 2005 – Operation Matador is over, Marine officials in Iraq announced today. The seven-day operation concentrated on cities near the border with Syria. Pentagon officials said many foreign fighters allied with terrorist mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi slip across the porous Syrian-Iraqi border. The operation concentrated on the Euphrates River cities of Karabilah, Ramana and Ubaydi, a Marine statement said. Nine Marines assigned to Regimental Combat Team 2 died in the operation. Forty more were wounded. The statement said the joint-service team's Marines,...

OBEIDI, Iraq -- The U.S. military wrapped up a major offensive in a remote desert region near the Syrian border Saturday, saying it had cleaned out the insurgent haven and killed more than 125 militants during the weeklong campaign against followers of Iraq's most wanted terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Nine U.S. Marines were killed and 40 injured during Operation Matador _ one of the largest American campaigns since militants were driven from Fallujah six months ago. The number of civilian casualties was not immediately known.

Syria launched a military build up on its Iraq border after the American Army began a wide-ranging military operation in a region in Iraq near the Syrian border. Eyewitnesses in this area reported that they heard canon, warplane and bombing sounds coming from Al Kaim Township and its surroundings. Local inhabitants reported that Syrian armored vehicles went to the border region with soldiers in them. Eyewitnesses noted that the tension in the region is quite high, and they added that they are anxious due to heavy American bombardment in the Ak Kaim region and Husayba Town.

U.S. Calls Iraq Border Operation a Success By MOHAMMED BARAKAT, Associated Press Writer OBEIDI, Iraq - The U.S. military pronounced its weeklong offensive near the Syrian border over Saturday, saying it had successfully "neutralized" an insurgent sanctuary and killed more than 125 militants. During the weeklong operation, many more suspected insurgents were injured and 39 with "intelligence value" were captured, the military said in a statement. It provided no details about the detainees. Nine U.S. Marines were killed and 40 injured during the campaign known as Operation Matador, during which American forces searched the Euphrates River villages of Karabilah, Rommana...

BAGHDAD, May 13 (KUNA) -- American marines continued 'Operation Matador' killing "a significant number of terrorists, anti-Iraqi forces and foreign fighters" in Al-Qaim area, northwestern Al Anbar province, where foreign insurgents cross the Syrian border illegally through smuggling routes, known as 'rat lines.' "The offensive is aimed at eliminating terrorists and foreign fighters from the area," said Friday a statement issued by American army's Camp Blue Diamond, located in western Iraq. Through the 'rat lines', "foreign fighters receive the weapons and equipment to conduct attacks, such as suicide car bombs and assassination or kidnapping of political or civilian targets," added...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - American fighter jets flattened a suspected insurgent safe house near the Syrian border, the U.S. military said Friday, as hundreds of U.S. troops searched remote desert villages house by house for followers of Iraq's most wanted militant leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. American forces have met little resistance since the first two days of Operation Matador, aimed at clearing a region believed to be a haven for foreign fighters slipping over the border from Syria, the military said in a statement Friday. American intelligence indicates the insurgents are either in hiding or have fled the region, U.S....

QAIM, Iraq - American warplanes roared over desert villages while armed militants roamed this town's rubble-strewn streets Friday as more than 1,000 U.S. forces hunted down followers of Iraq's most wanted terrorist near the Syrian border. American forces have met little resistance since the first two days of Operation Matador, aimed at clearing a region believed to be a haven for foreign fighters allied to Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi who have been slipping over the border from Syria, the military said. American intelligence indicates the insurgents are either in hiding or have fled the region, U.S. Capt. Jeffrey Pool...