Clashes continued Sunday in southwest Husayba as Operation Steel Curtain -- a major offensive by U.S. and Iraqi forces entered its second day. Some 50 suspects were detained Saturday and Sunday by the US and Iraqi forces, the military said. Earlier, US statements claimed that dozens of gunmen had been killed. At least three Marines were wounded, CNN reported.
The US army said Husayba, located near the Syrian border, has been taken over by gunmen and foreign fighters.
Meanwhile, 11 members of a Kurdish Shiite family were killed Saturday when gunmen sprayed their minibus with automatic weapons' fire northeast of Baghdad, police said. Three other family members were wounded, police added, according to the AP. The dead included a baby girl, police said.
In another development, a 65-year-old man being held at the US-run prison in southern Iraq died on Saturday, the US military confirmed on Sunday.
The inmate at Camp Bucca, located near the border with Kuwait, ”complained of chest pains” and was rushed to the camp hospital, where he “went into cardiac arrest ... and died after all life-saving efforts failed to resuscitate him” the military stated, according to AFP.
