An aide of the head of al-Qaida in Iraq was arrested last week, and U.S. and Iraqi forces killed or captured more than 600 suspected members of the terrorist group in September, | “U.S. and Iraqi forces killed or captured more than 600 suspected members of the terrorist group in September...” |
During September, U.S. and Iraqi forces killed 110 suspected al-Qaida members and detained another 520, Caldwell said, calling it "a significant upturn over August." He did not say how many were captured or killed the previous month. Fifty of those killed and 16 of those detained were foreign fighters, he said.
In early September, Iraqi officials announced the arrest of Hamed Jumaa Farid al-Saeedi, who they said was a top deputy of al-Masri. "We're obviously gleaning some key critical information from those individuals and others that have been picked up and detained that are going through the interrogation process," Caldwell said.
On Sunday, the Iraqi government released a captured video of al-Masri, showing him demonstrating how to build a bomb in a tanker truck. The video was the first to show the militant leader's face, although U.S. and Iraqi military officials have shown photos of him. Caldwell said he hoped the release could generate tips that would lead to al-Masri's capture. He said coalition forces already conducted one raid based on a tip after the video's release, but it turned out to be a false lead.