Al-Qaida in Iraq confirms deaths of leaders [View All]

Source: Reuters

LONDON - Al-Qaida in Iraq has confirmed in a statement posted on the Internet that two of its leaders were killed in a joint raid a week ago by U.S. and Iraqi troops.

The killings of al-Qaida's leader in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the purported head of its affiliate, the Islamic State of Iraq, or ISI, have been blamed for a series of apparent reprisal bombings that killed at least 56 people in Shiite areas of Baghdad on Friday.

The al-Qaida statement, posted on Islamist Internet forums and translated on Sunday by SITE Intelligence Group, quotes Abu al-Walid Abd al-Wahhab al-Mashadani, identified as the Sharia Minister of the ISI, as confirming that Masri, also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, and Baghdadi were killed in a military operation on April 18 in Thar-Thar, 50 miles northwest of Baghdad.

"The ISI Sharia Minister, Abu al-Walid Abd al-Wahhab al-Mashadani, informed that both leaders were attending a meeting when enemy forces engaged them in battle and launched an airstrike on their location," the statement said.


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