Sunnis in Iraq face US might

Some 2,500 US troops and 1,000 local Iraqis met “sporadic” resistance, according to a US Marines statement, when they advanced through the streets of Qusayba on the Syrian border at the start of Operation Steel Curtain against foreign al Qaeda fighters.

It was the biggest operation in the mainly Sunni desert province of Anbar since weeks of fighting forced insurgents from the city of Falluja, close to Baghdad, in November last year.

Several US offensives this year in the Euphrates valley, running from the border towards the capital, have been aimed at stemming the flow of Islamic militants into Iraq, although local people have complained that al Qaeda-linked militants have returned to their towns after the Americans withdrew. US commanders hope local troops can now hold their own as part of withdrawal of US forces next year.

After unconfirmed reports from locals of dozens of casualties in Qusayba and Qaim, the military said in a statement that air-strikes had hit only buildings from where rebels had opened fire.