Iraqi and US forces dealt al Qaeda in Iraq a major blow last week during a raid in Mosul that killed the terror group's top facilitator, who was based out of Syria.The joint US and Iraqi special operations team killed Abu Khalaf, al Qaeda in Iraq's seniormost foreign fighter facilitator, during an operation on Jan. 22. Khalaf was killed after he "attacked a security-team member participating in a warranted operation," a US Forces- Iraq press release stated.
The US military said Khalaf's identity was confirmed using "multiple sources, including
Khalaf, whose real name is Sa'ad Uwayyid 'Ubayd Mu'jil al Shammari, was placed on the US Treasury Department's terrorist sanctions list in May 2009 and was identified as al Qaeda in Iraq's top facilitator, who operated from Syria.