The World Tribune reports that the U.S. military is eliminating the al Qaeda command structure in Iraq.
BAGHDAD — The U.S. military is eliminating Al Qaida's chain of command in Iraq.
Officials said several leading aides to Al Qaida network chief Abu Ayoub Al Masri have been killed by the U.S.-led coalition. They said two out of the four foreign aides of Al Masri remain alive.
On Sept. 25, the U.S. military killed an Al Qaida chief deemed responsible for transporting foreign operatives to Iraq. The Al Qaida commander, identified as Abu Osama Al Tunisi, was killed in a U.S. air strike as he met his colleagues in Musayib, about 60 kilometers south of Baghdad.
Shortly before he died, Al Tunisi wrote a letter that warned of a threat to Al Qaida operations in Karkh. The lettter, found by the U.S. military, sought guidance from Al Qaida leaders amid coalition operations that hampered Al Tunisi's network.
"We are so desperate for your help," the letter read.
"This was a dangerous terrorist who is no longer a part of Al Qaida in Iraq," U.S. Brig. Gen. Joseph Anderson, chief of staff of the Multinational Corps Iraq, said. "His death deals a significant blow to their operation. Abu Osama Al Tunisi was one of the most senior leaders within Al Qaida in Iraq."
Corroboration comes from none other than Al Jazzeera.
A group linked to al-Qaeda in Iraq has acknowledged that one of its key leaders was killed in a US air strike last week.
"We proclaim to the Islamic nation the martyrdom of the leader Abu Usama al-Tunisi, one of the longest-serving fighters of the Jihad [in Iraq]," a group calling itself the Islamic State of Iraq said on a website on Monday.
The statement said al-Tunisi was the leader of Al-Qaeda's Aiesha brigades "which counts in its ranks the greatest heroes of Islam ... who have participated in many battles and conquests ..."
The US military said last Friday that the killing of al-Tunisi in a September 25 air strike was a "significant blow" to the group, describing him as being in-line to succeed Abu Ayyub al-Masri, al-Qaeda-in-Iraq's leader.
Also carrying the story, the Tehran Times:
'Al-Qaeda figure' killed in Iraq
A senior leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq was killed in a U.S. air strike near Baghdad on Tuesday, the U.S. military reports.
It could be there is something of a self-imposed news blackout on this in the U.S. mainstream press. This does not fit into their pre-ordained storyline -- Iraq is a distraction from the war on terror, al Qaeda has nothing to do with the 'civil war' in Iraq -- you know the drill.
Via Instapundit and Tiger Hawk.
Comments