Senior al-Qaeda leader killed in Iraq: US military

{image-Taliban militants killed by Pak forces_08112008.jpg news.oneindia.in}Baghdad, Nov 8: The US military unit in Iraq has claimed that a senior al Qaeda leader in the country was killed in a weapons cache-clearing operation carried out in north of Baghdad.

A statement issued by the US military on Friday said that Abu Ghazwan was killed on Thursday, Nov 6 in the Tarmiyah area. Ghazwan led many terrorist cells in the Tarmiyah and Taji areas, and he advised and financed other terrorist cells in northern Iraq, The News quoted the statement as saying. It said that the operation was carried out by coalition-supported Iraqi security forces and "Sons of Iraq", also known as "Awakening Councils". The paramilitary groups composed mainly of former insurgents who now work with US forces to fight al-Qaida in Iraq.

It also said that he was responsible for building roadside bombs in the Baghdad area, and for terrorist groups that recruit children and women to conduct suicide attacks against international and coalition forces in Iraq. Earlier, the US military said coalition forces captured 24 suspected members and associates of al-Qaida in Iraq in operations Friday, Nov 7.

ANI