The U.S.-led coalition launched a major new offensive of about 3,500 American and Iraqi troops near the country's border with Syria on Saturday, aimed at destroying a regional al-Qaida in Iraq network, the U.S. command said. The military also announced that two U.S. Army soldiers were killed by insurgents in other areas of Iraq on Friday, according to a report of The Associated Press. The "Operation Steel Curtain" offensive in the town of Husaybah in the western province of Anbar will destroy the insurgents and their "safe houses" and improve security in the area ahead of Iraq's parliamentary election on Dec. 15, the U.S. military said.
