Claims That Two Leaders of Al Qaeda in Iraq Taken Out (updated)
By Andrew Cochran
First piece of good news from Iraq: "Iraq's Interior Ministry says its forces have killed a senior figure of the Al Qaeda militant group in Baghdad. The ministry described the slain militant, Abu Jaafar al-Liby, as the number-two leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, behind Abu Ayyub al-Masri who succeeded Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, killed by US forces this year." I would caution that the Interior Ministry sometimes exaggerates its successes and the rankings of those terrorists killed and captured.
And another leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq has been captured: U.S. forces captured the leader of the assassination, kidnapping and bomb making cells in Baghdad. The man, not identified by U.S. forces by name, is described as a "personal associate" of the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Hamza al-Muhajir (or "Abu Ayyoub al-Masri" according to the U.S. military there). The Iraqi Defense Ministry describes the captured man as the fourth-ranking leader of al Qaeda in Iraq and named him as Thamer Mohsen al- Jibouri, a.k.a. Abu Ayman. The Ministry said he was arrested in the same area in which Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed.
UPDATE: Here is the official DOD press release on the capture, and you can watch video of the announcement here. The release notes, "During the past two weeks, more than 150 focused operations resulted in 66 terrorists killed and 830 terror suspects detained."
More on these events later as we obtain more confirmation of the killing claimed by the Iraqis.
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