Al-Qaida threatens escalation, calls for halting iron curtain operation

Al-Qaida organization in Iraq threatened to target all houses of members of the Iraqi army if the Iraqi government and the American forces will not stop its so-called "iron curtains" operation.

The American army said that 36 gunmen were killed and 200 detained since the beginning of the operation. Col. Steven Davis said that the American forces which are composed of 2500 soldiers supported by 1000 Iraqi soldiers are chasing the gunmen and reached the downtown of Huseibah town which adjoins the Iraqi-Syrian borders.

A CNN correspondent said that one Iraqi soldier was injured and 80 gunmen were killed during the fighting operations which are carried by the American army from house-to-house backed by tanks and helicopters.

The US army also announced that two leaders of al-Qaida organization were killed, working in al-Huseibah, during air attacks which destroyed several houses said it belong to the gunmen.

In a statement, the American army disclosed that one of the killed is called Abu Omar and he helps in the infiltration of "foreign gunmen to Iraq" and leads several cells in al-Obeidi area, al-Huseibah and al-Qaem. The second man is called Abu Hamzeh. He leads several al-Qaida cells one of them in Huseibah and al-Karabelah, according to the statement.