The Iraqis have announced another takedown from al Qaeda. Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, was killed in a joint US-Iraqi operation:
U.S. and Iraqi forces have killed the head of the self-styled Islamic State in Iraq, an al Qaeda-led militant group that has claimed many major attacks in the country, Iraq's deputy interior minister said on Thursday.
Hussein Kamal said Abu Omar al-Baghdadi had been killed in a battle north of Baghdad. He declined to say when but said authorities had recovered Baghdadi's body.
"Abu Omar al-Baghdadi was killed north of Baghdad by Iraqi and American forces. He died as a result of wounds sustained in clashes. The Interior Ministry has his body to carry out further checks," Kamal told Reuters by telephone.
U.S. military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Christopher Garver declined to comment but said a news conference would be held later on Thursday to announce the "success" of an operation against Sunni Islamist al Qaeda.
Meanwhile, the U.S. has confirmed that it was not Abu Ayyub al-Masri who was killed earlier this week, but rather the information minister for al Qaeda in Iraq, Muharib Abdulatif al-Juburi.
Recent Comments