"In the west, special operations continued against regime forces in the town of Al-Qaim," Brigadier General Vincent Brooks told a daily briefing for reporters at Central Command's forward planning base.

Another senior commander, Air Force Major General Victor Renuart, said Al-Qaim, on the Syrian border, is in an area that saw "the largest number of surface-to-surface missile launches" during the 1991 Gulf war.

"We clearly are interested in protecting the neighbors in that region," he said.

"It's in our strategic interest to ensure that we preclude any capability of surface-to-surface missiles, especially those that are long-range, to be launched from that area.

"That allows us to preserve the security of Saudi Araba, Jordan and other countries on the border."

But Renuart acknowledged that "we truly don't know for sure" if Iraq does indeed have the capability now to launch missiles from the region.

SPACE.WIRE