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Iraqi Mosul al Qaeda leader killed
 BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The Mosul leader of al Qaeda in Iraq was shot to death by Iraqi soldiers during a combat operation in the northern Iraqi city Wednesday, a U.S. military statement said. Iraqi soldiers spotted al Qaeda's emir of Mosul -- known as Safi -- riding in a pickup truck in northeastern Mosul and began chasing his vehicle, the military said in a statement released Thursday. After pulling over, Safi and two bodyguards emerged from the truck and "The death of Safi will further disrupt senior AQI leadership in Mosul, which has been unstable since May, due to the combined efforts of Coalition Forces and ISF (Iraqi security forces) offensive operations," said U.S. Army Col. Stephen Twitty, commander of 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. But now, onto the CNN gloom and doom... Meanwhile, a suicide bombing targeting a police station in Iraq's volatile Diyala province on Thursday has killed five people and wounded seven others, the Interior Ministry told CNN. Police and civilians were among the victims in the incident, which took place in the town of Hibhib. On Tuesday, six U.S. soldiers were killed in Iraq, bringing the total death toll for July to 79, the lowest figure since November. However, the figure is nearly twice as high as the July 2006 troop death toll -- 43 fatalities -- a sign of the persistent violence in the long conflict. Two Task Force Marne soldiers were killed and 10 were wounded in an indirect fire attack Tuesday, the military said on Thursday. Three U.S. soldiers were killed and six wounded when a bomb exploded near their combat patrol in eastern Baghdad, the military said on Wednesday. The bomb was the type known as an explosively formed penetrator, which the military said is a more powerful and sophisticated version of a roadside bomb. Posted by: tu3031 2007-08-02 |
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