U.S. LAUNCHES MAJOR MISSION ALONG SYRIAN BORDER

From Middle East Newsline

BAGHDAD [MENL] -- The U.S. military, backed by Iraqi forces, has launched a major operation along the border with Syria.

U.S. officials said Operation Phantom Linebacker has comprised of thousands of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers as well as armored combat vehicles, unmanned air vehicles and helicopters in an effort to stem the flow of insurgents, funds and weapons from Syria into Iraq. The officials said the operation came in wake of a determination that the Sunni insurgency, including support for Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi, was coming mainly from Saddam Hussein loyalists who have fled to Syria.

Officials said the operation was the largest by the United States to stop weapons from Syria. Earlier missions involved mainly fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft in pursuit of Sunni insurgents along the more than 500 kilometer Iraqi-Syrian border.

The operation began on Aug. 2 and also comprised a range of Iraqi security forces. They included the Iraqi Border Police and Iraqi National Guard.
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