Officials said the intelligence coup enabled Iraqi security forces to
track and kill the top leaders of the AQI network, identified as Aby Ayoub
Al Masri and Abu Omar Al Baghdadi. They said information obtained after
their deaths in mid-April confirmed and augmented government intelligence on
AQI and its command chain.
"We have arrested dozens of top figures of Al Qaida and obtained very
important information," Baghdad security spokesman Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta
said. "The arrests will continue in the forthcoming weeks, and they will be
dark for Al Qaida."
Iraq has also killed or captured the suspected AQI commanders in Baghdad
and Mosul. On April 20, AQI Mosul chief Ahmed Al Obeid was killed in a
shootout in Mosul that was said to have reflected Iraqi intelligence
capabilities.
"We commend the Iraqi security forces for their extraordinary
performance developing the intelligence, executing the operation, bringing
down these most wanted terrorist figures," U.S. Defense Department spokesman
Geoff Morrell said on April 21.
Iraqi National Security Adviser Muwafaq Al Rubaie said the latest
successes against AQI reflected a new counter-insurgency strategy by the
Baghdad government. Al Rubaie said Iraqi intelligence has penetrated the
ranks of AQI in several areas of the country.
"This has caused a major strategic change in their [AQI] plans and a
major victory in the defeat against terrorism and the penetration of its
ranks," Al Rubaie said.
Still, officials have stressed that AQI, marked by autonomous cells,
remains capable of recovering from even strategic losses. They said the
Islamic network has displayed incredible speed in planning operations that
exploit real-time intelligence, particularly on government targets around
Iraq.
"It's hard to say that AQI has been eliminated or even seriously
weakened after the latest attack because of its doctrine for rapid
rebuilding," Deputy Interior Minister Hussein Kamal, responsible for
intelligence operations, said. "The security forces have struck AQI in a
very strong way, but the network has demonstrated the speed of its
recovery."
ShareThis
