Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12536&Itemid=21
June 25, 2007
Release A070625c
Al-Qaeda emir of West Mosul killed during Coalition operations
BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition forces killed a known terrorist leader in Mosul during a raid Monday, further depleting a terrorist network already strained by Coalition operations.
Khalid Sultan Khulayf Shakir al-Badrani, also known as Abu Abdullah, was the al-Qaeda in Iraq emir of western Mosul. He had a direct hand in numerous terrorist activities in the area, including kidnappings, suicide bombings and attacks on Coalition Forces. In 2005, he facilitated the movement of weapons and foreign fighters into Mosul for al-Qaeda in Iraq operations.
Coalition Forces targeted Sultan during a raid on a house in Mosul. As the ground force entered the building, two men attempted to flee the scene. The ground force caught them on the roof of the building, where one man identified as al-Badrani drew a pistol. Coalition Forces, reacting appropriately to the hostile threat, engaged al-Badrani, killing him. The other suspect on the roof was detained.
Coalition Forces have killed or detained nine terrorist leaders in Mosul since May 29, including Kamal Jalil Bakr ‘Uthman, the al-Qaeda in Iraq military emir of Mosul (MNF-I press release Release A070529a, AL-QAEDA REGIONAL EMIR, 13 OTHERS DETAINED), and Aman Ahmad Taha Khazam al-Juhayshi, the emir of Ansar al-Sunna in Mosul.
Al-Juhayshi had returned to Iraq after fleeing in 2005 to avoid capture by Coalition Forces, and distributed jihadist media, recruited for Ansar al-Sunna and organized attacks against the Iraqi Police, Iraqi Army, Coalition
Forces and Iraqi citizens. His assistant, Mahmud Jasim Muhammad Salih, was captured June 5 in Mosul.
Izz Al Din, also known as Abu Ahmad, was killed by Coalition Forces Jun 15 in Mosul. He was the head of five terrorist cells in Mosul and was responsible for directing attacks against Iraqi and Coalition Forces.
On June 10, Coalition Forces captured Luay Rakan Aziz Mahmud, an alleged recruiting emir for the Ansar al-Sunna network in Mosul.
An early morning raid by Coalition Forces May 30 netted Waad Yunis Bakr Shaykhu, a key al-Qaeda in Iraq member in Mosul responsible for coordinating attacks on Iraqi and Coalition Forces.
Salim Jasim Husayn Nasir, suspected of heading and staffing an al-Qaeda in Iraq terrorist cell in Mosul, was captured June 3 by Coalition Forces in Mosul.
Based on information from a previous successful operation in Anbar province, Coalition Forces targeted and captured Rafi’ Khudir Muhammad Mustafa June 4. Mustafa is a suspected senior terrorist leader in Mosul connected to the
al-Qaeda in Iraq network, and allegedly makes decisions on enforcing religious punishments.
“The leaders of the terrorist networks in Mosul, as well as their facilitators and operational cell leaders, have been significantly disrupted due to the deliberate and decisive attacks by Coalition Forces,” said Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, MNF-I spokesperson.
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Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=46530
Arrowhead Ripper: Troops Find Execution House, Illegal Prison in Baqubah
American Forces Press Service
BAQUBAH, Iraq, June 25, 2007 – Iraqi security forces and Task Force Lightning soldiers discovered an execution house and an illegal prison in the Baqubah neighborhood of Khatoon yesterday during the sixth day of Operation Arrowhead Ripper.
The two buildings were in the same area as a torture chamber and illegal courthouse linked to al Qaeda, which were found on the fourth and fifth day of the operation, officials said.
Soldiers from 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, discovered the execution house using information from local citizens, who said it had been used by al Qaeda. Soldiers searching the house found five bodies buried in the yard behind the building and bloody clothes in several rooms inside it.
Located nearby, a house had been converted into an illegal prison, with several numbered rooms and bars covering the building’s windows. Several blindfolds were found inside.
Elsewhere in Baqubah, soldiers from 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, identified a house that was filled with explosives and had been booby-trapped. The soldiers cleared the area and destroyed the house through the use of attack aircraft and indirect fire.
“The fact that we continue to find these booby-trapped houses filled with explosives and torture chambers only reaffirms that al Qaeda has no regard for the safety and welfare of the people of Baqubah. They only want to see death and destruction,” said Army Col. Gary Patton, chief of staff for Task Force Lightning.
Iraqi and coalition forces also discovered 10 weapons caches throughout Baqubah yesterday. These included four anti-tank mines, three rocket-propelled grenade launchers, 18 rocket-propelled grenades with boosters, 13 AK-47 assault rifles, nine hand grenades, two flak vests, thousands of rounds of ammunition and a box of al Qaeda propaganda.
Since the beginning of Operation Arrowhead Ripper, at least 58 al Qaeda operatives have been killed, 60 have been detained, 23 weapons caches have been discovered, 52 improvised explosive devices have been destroyed, and 17 booby-trapped structures have been destroyed.
(From a Multinational Corps Iraq news release.)