Sunday, November 20, 2005
Zarqawi probably killed!
According to these two sources,(in arabic) Iraqi and US military forces in Mosul think that Zarqawi, al-Qaeda leader in Iraq was possibly killed in a raid on a house where members of al-Qaeda were holding a meeting.
Al-Mada paper said that terrorists hiding in a house fired back at American and Iraqi troops that were surrounding the house in a battle that lasted from dawn to noon on Saturday (Jerusalem Post said it was Sunday)`after receiving intelligence about a meeting for senior al-Qaeda members.
The terrorists blew up the house when an Iraqi assault team tried to break into the house, the blast killed four Iraqi soldiers and wounded ten policemen and also killed all of the hiding terrorists.
Eight charred bodies were found in the scene, one of them belongs to a woman.
An Iraqi security official in Mosul said that US forces will most likely conduct DNA tests on the found bodies to verify whether or not Abu Musaab al-Zarqawi was among the killed terrorists.
If anyone has more information on this news, please leave a note in the comments.
http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/
I like my Al Qaeda extra crispy
"The Intrade.com contracts on Zarqawi death/capture have gone way up and are currently the most heavily traded on the exchange."
IF this story is correct, (and that's a big if) then that is an interesting point. We never have three hour gun battles during a raid unless we absolutely want the people inside taken alive. If it was a normal raid, and we took that much fire, we're probably just drop a 500lb bomb on the place and be done with it.
The terrorists blew up the house when an Iraqi assault team tried to break into the house, the blast killed four Iraqi soldiers and wounded ten policemen and also killed all of the hiding terrorists.
This happens every now and then. During a raid, we've seen people decide not to be taken alive, and detonate themselves. Sometimes it's just a low level suicide bomber, sometimes its a senior leader who doesn't want to be taken alive. AMZ is rumored to wear a suicide vest at all times, and this is likely the case. He is unlikely to be taken alive.
Eight charred bodies were found in the scene, one of them belongs to a woman.
Perhaps AMZ meeting with one of his wives? Him plus a small security detail plus his wife? It's not like a guy on the run travels with a platoon sized element of bodyguards.
All in all, the details make sense. We just need it from a better source.