Coalition forces capture yet another key Al Qaida leader
BAGHDAD — The U.S.-led coalition has captured another
senior Al Qaida operative.
The U.S. military said Iraqi and American troops captured 10 suspected
Islamic insurgents on Tuesday in Mosul and Faluja. They said the raids
targeted the Ansar Al Sunna and Al Qaida networks.
One of those captured was identified as a senior leader in Ansar Al
Sunna. The military said the unidentified insurgent, detained in Mosul,
provided weapons, documentation and financial support to Ansar, an Al
Qaida-aligned group.
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In the raid in Faluja, Iraqi and U.S. forces captured six Al Qaida
operatives. Additional arrests took place northwest of Taji.
Officials said the raids were meant to capture Al Qaida leaders. The
detainees were not identified.
"The information we gain from these successful operations leads us one
step closer to dismantling terrorist networks in Iraq and helping the Iraqi
people," coalition spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver said.
Al Qaida has been accused of killing members of a rival Islamic group in
Iraq. The so-called Jihad and Reform Front said 12 of its senior operatives
were killed by Al Qaida on May 12 in Baghdad.
The Jihad and Reform Front was said to have been formed by the merger of
the Islamic Army in Iraq, Mujahadeen Army and Ansar Al Sunna. The group was
announced in early May.
"Twelve of our holy warriors, mostly field commanders from the
Mujahadeen Army, were killed in a perfidious ambush by some of our former
comrades whom we did not expect to betray us in such a barbaric way," the
Jihad Front said in an statement posted on the Internet on May 14.
