IRAQ - US Offensives On Terrorists.

About 2,500 US and 1,000 Iraqi troops backed by tanks and air strikes last week fought insurgents in the streets of the western border town of Husayba. US and Iraqi troops moved through the town on foot for a fifth day on Nov. 11, having battled insurgents hiding inside mosques and schools.

The US military said Iraqi soldiers killed insurgents dressed as women near the entrance of a building. Those disguised as women were foreign fighters trying to hide among women and children. It was not the first time insurgents had dressed as women. In Buhriz, north of Baghdad, insurgents dressed as women recently killed six police officers at a checkpoint.

In western Iraq near the Syrian border, Operation Steel Curtain entered its sixth day on Nov. 11 with Marines and Iraqi troops pushing through Husayba in search of al-Qaeda insurgents. Operation Steel Curtain is the latest in a series of offensives aimed at securing western Iraq against Sunni Arab insurgents and Neo-Salafi foreign fighters before the Dec. 15 election. Sectarian tensions are dominating campaigning for the poll.

US commanders say the sweeps in the past six months have put the insurgents on the defensive, but success has been spotty. US troops staged an offensive in the area along the Euphrates River Valley in early October, but far fewer Iraqi soldiers fought then, making this the first serious test of new Iraqi Army troops in Anbar province. The offensive has provoked the anger of al-Qaeda, which in a posting on the Internet signed by a spokesman, Abu Maisra al-Iraqi, set a 24-hour deadline for US and Iraqi troops to stop the operation, or "they will face everything bad from us, and the Mesopotamia ground will shake under their legs". But the deadline was ignored.

Steel Curtain, the biggest offensive in Anbar in a year, met sporadic resistance, as US and Iraqi troops kicked down the doors of empty houses in search for foreign terrorists. Brig. Gen. Donald Alston said the forces had been met with mainly rifle fire and IEDs.

Al-Qaeda accused a visiting Arab League delegation of not speaking out against the US-led assault. Its spokesman al-Iraqi said: "At this very moment the Arab League delegation arrives not to defend the honour of Muslims, save Iraqi children, women and the elderly from the bombs of the Crusader planes or even condemn these acts". His statement was entitled "Between Steel Curtain Operation and the Visit of the Rascals' Delegation", was signed by al-Iraqi.

US forces on Nov. 10 said in Husayba they killed two al-Qaeda leaders: Asadallah, "a senior...leader and foreign fighter facilitator" who led several terrorist cells; and Abu Zahra, a friend and assistant to Zarqawi. Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch told reporters US and Iraqi forces in Husayba killed 37 insurgents, arrested 165 suspected insurgents and captured 28 weapons caches. Lynch said: "We have indeed seen a reduction in the number of suicide attacks in Baghdad", adding he believed that operation along the Syrian border was an important factor. He said: "We believe we have...Zarqawi on the ropes".

Sunni gunmen in army uniforms on Nov. 8 kidnapped Hatem al-Hassani, a Sunni and brother of Speaker Hajim al-Hassani. Sunni insurgents had threatened members of their community who take part in politics, but Iraq also has numerous criminal gangs involved in kidnappings. A US Marine died of injuries suffered on Nov. 7 when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in western Iraq. The death brought to 2,055 the number of US troops killed since 2003.

A seven-member Arab League team headed by Algerian diplomat Ahmad bin Helli arrived in Iraq on Nov. 5 for fresh talks to defuse sectarian tension and hold a national reconciliation conference in Cairo. On Nov. 9 the team said the Cairo conference will open on Dec. 19.

Steel Curtain sets a joint US-Iraqi permanent presence along the Syrian border. Locals have complained that al-Qaeda men return once the Americans withdraw. The US hopes local troops can hold their own as part of a new strategy. Alston said: "The deployment of Iraqi...forces to hold that ground after it has been gained through these operations is the key difference". In al-Qa'im and Tal A'far al-Qaeda tried but failed to set up a Neo-Salafi emirate.