Another Al Qaeda In Iraq Leader Killed
While we were taking it easy and enjoying the Christmas Holidays, our troops were busy kicking ass:
Key Al Qaeda-in-Iraq Leader Killed, 40 Suspected Terrorists Captured In Iraq
1/4/2008 RTTNews
U.S. forces have killed an Al Qaeda-in-Iraq leader who was suspected of helping to plan a large scale attack against coalition forces in the near future and arrested dozens of suspected extremists connected to the terrorist group in two days of mopping up operations, the U.S. military revealed a week after the incident occurred south of Baghdad.
Muhammad Khalil Ibrahim, the deputy military leader for the Al Qaeda network, operating south of the Iraqi capital, and two of his colleagues were killed when the coalition forces’ helicopters fired on their vehicle last Friday, the military said.
One of the most wanted terrorists in the list of the U.S. military, Ibrahim was “a key planner in numerous attacks against coalition forces operating in the Mahmudiyah area, and a facilitator of foreign terrorists and weapons,” a military statement said.
More than 40 suspected extremists including 32 criminals on the Iraqi Army’s “most-wanted list” were captured in a joint attack by the U.S. military and Iraqi Army in the Ubaydi farmland area on the next day. People not aligned with the terrorists were killed or chased away in this Al Qaeda stronghold, CNN quoted a U.S. soldier as saying. Meanwhile, Iraqi security forces announced a vehicle ban for three cities in the Diyala province to enable them to escort the Hajj pilgrims into the cities, where many will be met at mosques by their families.
The ban will run through Friday in Baquba, Al Khalis and Al Muqdadiya, one of the most dangerous areas in Iraq in recent months with shootings and bombings.
