IC: Al-Qaeda threatens Iraq mayhem unless US-led assault haltedMilitants loyal to Al-Qaeda in Iraq threatened to sharply intensify their campaign of violence unless government and US forces end a major offensive near the Syrian border, in an Internet statement posted Monday.
The statement also promised to destroy the homes of all Iraqi soldiers and government employees in response to recent comments by Defense Minister Saadun al-Dulaimi warning that those who sheltered insurgents in their homes would be considered targets.
"The organisation has decided to give the apostate government and itsmaster 24 hours to end their campaign against the Sunni people. After that they will only see from us the worst and something that's going to make the earth tremble under their feet," warned the statement signed in the name of spokesman Abu Maisara al-Iraqi.
Reuters: IRAQ: Dozens dead, thousands displaced in west, doctors say
L-QAIM, 7 November (IRIN) - Dozens of civilians were killed and injured on Saturday when US-led forces launched an offensive on the western Iraqi town of Husaybah, according to local doctors.
The attack forced thousands to flee to camps on the outskirts of the nearest town of al-Qaim, some 12 km from the Syrian border.
Al-Jazeera: Iraqi politicians condemn US offensive
Iraqi politicians have condemned the latest US offensive on villages and towns close to the Syrian border, calling it a killing operation. The leader of the Iraqi Front for National Dialogue, Salih al-Mutlaq, on Sunday denounced the massive US military offensive - code-named Operation Steel Curtain - being conducted in Husaiba, Karabla and al-Qaim - in western Iraq.
Al-Mutlaq, who is also a member of the committee that drafted the new constitution, accused the Americans and their Iraqi allies of mounting "a destructive and killing operation of secure cities and villages" on the "pretext that they hide and secure terrorists".
