This is awesome. Nothing like waking up and reading in the news that AQ’s top leadership in Iraq have been decimated. Two separate attacks, with the top three leaders being al-Masri, al-Baghdadi, and al-Obeidi. Bravo to the SF and Iraqi units involved, and way to stick it to the enemy.-Matt
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U.S. air strike kills al Qaeda in Iraq leaders
Ernesto Londono
April 20, 2010
Two leaders of the Sunni insurgent group al Qaeda in Iraq have been killed in an air strike carried out by American troops, Iraqi and U.S. officials announced Monday.
The deaths of Abu Ayyub al-Masri, as the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq is known, and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the alias of the head of an umbrella group that includes al Qaeda in Iraq, should disrupt insurgent attacks inside the country, officials said. Their slayings could also provide Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki with a decisive political boost at a critical time.
“The death of these terrorists is potentially the most significant blow to al Qaeda in Iraq since the beginning of the insurgency,” Gen. Ray Odierno, the top commander of U.S. troops in Iraq, said in a statement. “There is still work to do, but this is a significant step forward in ridding Iraq (of) terrorists.”
The Saturday night raid was carried out a few miles southwest of Tikrit, Saddam Hussein’s hometown, U.S. officials said, after a series of Iraqi-led operations led to a safe house used by the insurgent leaders. An American soldier was killed during the operation when a helicopter crashed.
Al-Masri and al-Baghdadi were killed after “engaging the security team,” the U.S. military said. Al-Maliki said their bodies were found in a ditch. “We have found a lot of documents and hand-written letters” that implicated the men, the prime minister added.
Security forces also killed al-Masri’s assistant and one of al-Baghdadi’s sons, the U.S. military said. Iraqi troops took 16 men into custody after the raid.
In Washington, Vice President Joe Biden declared that the operation demonstrated the growing strength of the Iraqi security forces. “The Iraqis led this operation,” Biden told reporters, adding that Iraqis also gathered the intelligence that led to the targeting. “In short, the Iraqis have taken the lead.”
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs described the United States as playing a supporting role.
Al-Masri, an Egyptian, rose to the helm of the al Qaeda in Iraq organization after former leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. air strike in June 2006.
Story here.
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Third High-Ranking Al-Qaeda Figure Killed In Iraq
April 20, 2010
Iraqi and U.S. troops killed a regional leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq today, the third top terrorist reported killed in that country in the past 24 hours.
An Iraqi military spokesman, Qassim al-Musawi, said U.S. and Iraqi joint forces launched a morning attack in the northern province of Niniveh, killing suspected insurgent leader Ahmed al-Obeidi.