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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,298497,00.htmlSenior Al Qaeda in Iraq Leader Killed by U.S. Forces
Friday, September 28, 2007
Abu Usama al-Tunisi
WASHINGTON — U.S.-led forces have killed one of the most important leaders of Al Qaeda in Iraq, a Tunisian believed connected to the kidnapping and killings last summer of American soldiers, a top commander said Friday.
Brig. Gen. Joseph Anderson said the death of the terrorist in a U.S. airstrike Tuesday south of Baghdad, and recent similar operations against Al Qaeda, have left the organization in Iraq fractured.
“Abu Usama al-Tunisi was one of the most senior leaders ... the emir of foreign terrorists in Iraq and part of the inner leadership circle,” Anderson said.
Al-Tunisi was a leader in helping bring foreign terrorists into the country and his death “is a key loss” to Al Qaeda leadership there, Anderson told a Pentagon news conference.
“He operated in Yusufiyah, southwest of Baghdad, since the second battle of Fallujah in November ‘04 and became the overall emir of Yusufiyah in the summer of ‘06,” Anderson said in a videoconference from Baghdad.
“His group was responsible for kidnapping our American soldiers in June 2006,” Anderson said.
He did not name the soldiers and Pentagon officials said they did not immediately know whom he was referring to. But three U.S. soldiers were killed that month in an ambush-kidnapping that happened while they were guarding a bridge.
Spc. David J. Babineau was killed at a river checkpoint south of Baghdad on June 16, 2006, and Pfc. Kristian Menchaca and Pfc. Thomas Tucker were abducted. The mutilated bodies of the kidnapped soldiers were found three days later, tied together and booby-trapped with bombs.
Anderson said recent coalition operations also have helped cut in half the previous flow of foreign fighters into Iraq, which had been at about 60 to 80 a month.
He credited the work of the Iraqi Department of Border Enforcement and U.S. teams.
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http://www.defenselink.mil/dodcmsshare/newsstoryPhoto/2007-09/hrs_070928-D-9999C-001.jpg
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=47620
oalition Kills al Qaeda Leader Who Coordinated Foreign Terrorists in Iraq
By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 28, 2007 – A top al Qaeda leader who coordinated efforts of foreign terrorists in Iraq was killed this week, a senior official in the region announced today. (Video)
A photo released by Multinational Corps Iraq officials of foreign al Qaeda leader Abu Usama al-Tunisi, who was killed Sept. 25 in an air strike on a building south of Baghdad. Courtesy photo
(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.
Abu Usama al-Tunisi, a foreigner who brought al Qaeda terrorists into Iraq, was killed Sept. 25 in an air strike on a building south of Baghdad where he was meeting with other al Qaeda operatives, Army Brig. Gen. Joseph Anderson, Multinational Corps Iraq’s chief of staff, said in a briefing to reporters in the Pentagon.
The meeting was near Musayyib, in Babil province, about 35 miles south of Baghdad. An Air Force F-16 bombed the building. A video provided by defense officials shows a large explosion and the building leveled. Two other al Qaeda members were killed in the blast, and two were detained, Anderson said.
Tunisi was a close associate, and part of the inner circle of advisors to Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the overall leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Anderson said. Officials believe he may have been tapped to succeed Masri.
Originally from Tunisia, Tunisi was the emir of foreign terrorists in Iraq, responsible for overseeing foreign terrorists’ movements into Iraq and partnering them with terrorist cells. More than 80 percent of suicide bombings are carried out by foreign terrorists, Anderson said.
Tunisi has been operating in Yusufiyah, southwest of Baghdad, since November 2004 and became emir of the area in 2006. Tunisia’s group is believed responsible for the June 2006 kidnappings of two U.S. soldiers who later were found dead.
Anderson said Tunisi’s death was the culmination of a series of operations that began Sept. 12 when coalition forces captured a close associate to Tunisi. During the following days, forces ramped up operations and detained several other key associates of Tunisi in separate operations south and west of Baghdad. One was said to have identified Tunisi at the meeting, Anderson said.
The two others killed were Abu Abdullah, reported to be the new emir of the southern part of Baghdad’s Karkh region, and Sheikh Hussein, an al Qaeda in Iraq facilitator, Anderson said.
A handwritten letter found at the site indicated that Tunisi’s operations were cut off by coalition forces in the area and that he was trying to get direction from leaders, Anderson said.
“We are so desperate for your help,” the letter reads.
“This was a dangerous terrorist who is no longer a part of al Qaeda in Iraq,” Anderson said. “His death deals a significant blow to their operation.”
Abu Yakub al-Masri, another inner-circle leader, was killed Aug. 31 near Tarmiyah, north of Baghdad. Of Abu Ayyub al-Masri’s inner circle of four foreign leaders, only two remain at large, Anderson said.
