Most communication to the Sunni towns of Husaybah and Qaim has been cut off. An Iraqi journalist in Husaybah told Al-Jazeera “The city is suffering a complete lack of all of life’s basic necessities. There is no fuel and winter is upon us. There is no food and there are no services whatsoever, not even health services.” The journalist said that ambulances have been unable to respond to emergencies because no movement is allowed in the city. “They destroyed Qaim, Americans bombed everything, our houses are destroyed, our children are victims and we want a solution,” one resident told Reuters. “What do we have to do? We need a solution.” Residents have been forced to flee the town on foot. The Associated Press reported that the U.S.-led forces warned over loudspeakers that anyone leaving the town in vehicles would be shot. The U.S. said Operation Steel Curtain was needed to stop foreign fighters from crossing the Syrian border. Meanwhile Sunni politicians criticized the U.S.-led attack. The head of the moderate Iraqi Islamic Party Mohsen Abdul-Hamid said “We reject all military operations directed against civilian targets because such acts lead to the killing of innocent people and the destruction of towns and cities.”