U.S. army confirms killing of Abu Ayyub al-Masri, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi

BAGHDAD — The U.S. army confirmed on Monday the killing of top two al-Qaeda group leaders in Iraq Abu Hamzah al-Muhajir, also known as Abu Ayyub al Masri, and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi during a military operation on Sunday. “Iraqi Security Forces, supported by United States Forces, killed the two most-senior leaders of al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) early Sunday morning during a series of joint security operations 10 km southwest of Tikrit,” said a U.S. statement received by IraqiNews.com news agency. “Abu Hamzah al-Muhajir, also known as Abu Ayyub al Masri, is the military leader of AQI, the terrorist organization responsible for facilitating attacks against Iraqi and Coalition forces as well as Iraqi civilians. Abu Ayyub al Masri replaced Abu Musab al Zarqawi when Zarqawi was killed in June of 2006 and is directly responsible for high profile bombings and attacks against the people of Iraq,” it added. Also killed during the engagement was Hamid Dawud Muhammad Khalil al Zawi, otherwise known as Abu Umar al-Baghdadi, who served AQI as the leader of the proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and held the title “Prince of the Faithful.” “The death of these two terrorists is a potentially devastating blow to AQI,” the statement said. A series of Iraqi-led joint operations conducted over the last week resulted in the Iraqi Forces, with U.S. support, executing a nighttime raid on the AQI leaders’ safehouse. The joint security team identified both AQI members, and the terrorists were killed after engaging the security team. Additionally, Masri’s assistant, along with the son of al-Baghdadi, who were also involved in terrorist activities, were killed. During the operation, a USF-I Soldier was killed during the assault when a U.S. helicopter crashed. SH (S) 4