BAGHDAD, Nov. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- The US military launched a major operation in a town near Syria on Saturday, the US command said.

    About 2,500 US Marines, soldiers and sailors, along with an unspecified number of Iraqi forces, participated in the "Operation Steel Curtain" offensive, according to the military.

    "Operation Steel Curtain marks the first large-scale employment of multiple battalion-sized units of Iraqi army forces in combined operations with coalition forces in the last year," the military said in a statement.

    The offensive is aimed to remove insurgents and al-Qaida members from the town of Husaybah, a stronghold of insurgency in the western province of Anbar, ahead of Iraq's parliamentary election on Dec. 15.

    The military said that insurgents threatened to kill residents of Husaybah who work with US or Iraqi forces. Enditem