| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| US touts the killing of Zarqawi #2, former Anbar commander |
| 2005-09-28 |
| U.S. and Iraqi officials Tuesday declared a major setback for the anti-government insurgency after the slaying of a man identified as the No. 2 operative of Al Qaeda in Iraq.But the death of Abu Azzam, who was tracked down and shot in a high-rise apartment building by joint U.S.-Iraqi forces early Sunday, brought no immediate letup of violence in and around his Baghdad base of operation. In Baquba, 40 miles to the north, a suicide bomber charged a crowd of police recruits who had assembled for their first day of work Tuesday and set off explosives strapped to his body, killing 10 recruits and wounding 28 others. Also Tuesday, the bodies of 22 Shiites who had been shot in the head were found in a deserted area near Kut, a mostly Shiite district 100 miles southeast of the capital. Al Qaeda in Iraq posted an Internet statement Tuesday saying Abu Azzam's death "was not confirmed." Some Iraqis, beleaguered by months of unrelenting car bombs and crumbling public services, voiced skepticism about the government's latest claim of success. "Was this terrorist really killed, or is it just propaganda?" asked Suha Saeed Azawi, a Sunni Muslim member of the panel that drafted Iraq's proposed new constitution. U.S. and Iraqi officials identified Abu Azzam as the insurgent group's "Emir of Baghdad," the day-to-day organizer of its terrorist attacks throughout the country and conduit of the money to pay its foreign mercenaries. The group's estimated 1,000 fighters, led by the elusive Jordanian-born terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is behind a series of beheadings, suicide bombings and other bloody attacks against U.S. forces and members of the Shiite Muslim majority that dominates Iraq's government. U.S. officials have proclaimed the killing or capture of top al-Zarqawi aides several times over the past year, only to admit eventually that his organization is decentralized enough to absorb the blows. After a man identified as his chief bomb-maker in Baghdad was arrested in January, car bombings here increased sharply. Some U.S. officials were more optimistic Tuesday, saying Abu Azzam was a more significant figure, harder to replace. There were conflicting accounts of how U.S. and Iraqi forces found the insurgent, whose real name is Abdullah Najim Abudullah Mohamed Al-Jawari. Iraqi government spokesman Laith Kubba said a "patriotic citizen" of Iraqi had phoned in a tip on the insurgent's whereabouts. Pentagon officials said the key information came from a detainee in U.S. custody. A statement by the U.S. military command in Baghdad cited "multiple intelligence sources." A joint U.S.-Iraqi squad entered an apartment building in southeastern Baghdad and found Abu Azzam's hideout, officials said. "They went in to capture him, he did not surrender, and he was killed in the raid," said Lt. Col. Steve Boylan, a U.S. military spokesman. The troops reportedly captured at least one other insurgent in the apartment. "By taking Abu Azzam off the street . . . we have dealt another serious blow to Zarqawi's terrorist organization," said Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, chief spokesman for the U.S.-led forces in Iraq. Iraqi officials said Tuesday that a lower-ranking leader of the group surrendered in the northern city of Mosul and another was killed in Karabila, near the Syrian border. Kubba cautioned that insurgents would likely carry out revenge attacks as they struggle to recoup their losses. "They're going to have to go to the bench and find somebody that's probably less knowledgeable, less qualified" than Abu Azzam, said Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "But over time they'll replace people." An Internet statement attributed to the insurgent group's spokesman, Abu Maysara al-Iraqi, said Abu Azzam led "one of its battalions" in Baghdad and was being inflated in importance by U.S. and Iraqi officials in "a futile attempt . . . to raise the morale of their troops." Whatever his rank, U.S. officials said Abu Azzam had brought trouble to Baghdad since his arrival last spring following a stint as "emir," or leader, of the insurgent group in western Al Anbar province. Since April 1, Baghdad has suffered an upsurge of violence that has claimed an average of more than 100 lives per month, earning Abu Azzam a spot among Iraq's 29 most-wanted insurgents and a $50,000 bounty on his head. In Baquba, the blast just outside police headquarters ripped apart bodies of police recruits standing near the black-clad bomber, who ran up on foot and made no attempt to conceal his suicide vest, witnesses said. Car bombers have repeatedly attacked crowds of people lining up in unprotected public places for government jobs or services. Police in Baquba had tried to prevent such an attack Tuesday by barring vehicles from the streets near the headquarters. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #5 Steve has a real way with words. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2005-09-28 16:54 |
| #4 From JUS: In yet another desperate attempt, the crusaders and their tails, the apostates, announced again the capture or the killing of high ranking commander in Al-Qaida, or his deputy of Zarqawi or his right hand, etc. They are trying another theatrical propaganda stunt to uplift the moral of their soldiers who are trying to escape the quagmire they were sucked in, due to the constant attack targeting them by the Mujahideen, by the grace of Allah. The latest from their failed propaganda is the killing of the second man in command for Al-Qaida in the Land of the Two Rivers. We say to these midgets your lies will not serve you. The Mujahid Abu A’zzam the Iraqi is one of the Al-Qaida soldiers and a leader of one of the units working in Baghdad, may Allah free him. The news that we can confirm is that a large number of crusaders surrounded the neighbourhood where he resides, supported by helicopters. The brother engaged the crusaders who tried to capture him; this is what we expect from the lion of Fallujah. There is no confirmation that he was killed, but if he was killed then congratulation for him in joining the Martyrs. "He's dead, Jim" |
| Posted by: Steve 2005-09-28 14:39 |
| #3 U.S. and Iraqi officials Tuesday declared a major setback for the anti-government insurgency after the slaying of a man identified as the No. 2 operative of Al Qaeda in Iraq.But the death of Abu Azzam, who was tracked down and shot in a high-rise apartment building by joint U.S.-Iraqi forces early Sunday,.. Here's a suggestion: less touting, more killing. These terror boyz don't respond to this media stuff, so the proper response then is to accelerate the thinning of their ranks. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-09-28 12:32 |
| #2 Iraq Ansar al-Islam: Methinks we've penetrated the loop...most likely more ways than one. al Qaeda member Sami Ibrahim Jajan in raid in Kirkuk September 27, 2005 al Qaeda member Operation Date/Link Abu Azzam Emir of Anbar Killed in raid in Baghdad 26 Sept 2005 Abu Nasir Emir of Karabilah Killed in airstrike in al-Ushsh 26 Sept 2005 Shehab Hamed (aka Abu Ali) Emir of Haditha Killed in airstrike in Haditha 19 Sept 2005 Taha Ibrahim Yasin Becher (aka Abu Fatima) Emir of Mosul Captured in raid in Mosul 17 Sept 2005 Hamed Saeed Ismael Mustafa (aka Abu Shahed) Emir of West Mosul Captured in raid in Mosul 17 Sept 2005 Abu Zayd Emir of Mosul Killed in raid in Zanazil 10 Sept 2005 "The Sheikh" Senior terror facilitator Killed in airstrike in Ubaydi 10 Sept 2005 Abu Ali Senior terror facilitator Killed in airstrike in Jaramil 7 Sept 2005 Ayad Adnan Away Samir Senior terror facilitator Captured in raid in Fallujah area 5 Sept 2005 Nawfal Muwafaq Ahmad ‘Abdullah Terror cell leader Captured in raid in Mosul 3 Sept 2005 Abu Mujahir Senior terror facilitator Killed in raid in Mosul 27 Aug 2005 Abu Khallad Senior terror facilitator Killed in Mosul 26 Sept 2005 Abdallah Najim Muhammad Husayn (aka Abu Nijim) Battalion commander Captured in raid in Mosul 26 Aug 2005 Bassam Muhammad Ahmad Sultan (aka Abu Shayma) Terror Cell Commander Captured in raid in Mosul 26 Aug 2005 Durayd Jassar Khalifah Hamud (aka Abu Jabbar) al Qaeda leader in the Ramadi based Nu'man Brigade Captured in raid in Ramadi 23 Aug 2005 Ali Husayn Muhammad Jasim (aka Khalid Nazal) IED Cell leader in Ramadi Captured in raid in Ramadi 23 Aug 2005 Mohammed Salah Sultan (aka Abu Zubair) Senior terror leader Killed in raid in Mosul 14 Aug 2005 haven't forgotten about Tater and his tots. Muqtada al-Sadr's Medi Army. enjoy Mercenary Sniper in Iraq (2005) http: //www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2677403?htv=12 |
| Posted by: Red Dog 2005-09-28 02:03 |
| #1 AMERICA! F*CK YEAH! SAVNIG THE MOTHERF*CKING DAY! |
| Posted by: Wheque Chavise7647 2005-09-28 00:18 |