Free Republic

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- An al Qaeda in Iraq leader who was suspected of helping to plan a large scale attack against coalition forces "in the near future" was killed by a U.S. air strike south of Baghdad last week, the U.S. military said. The military also said it captured "dozens of suspected extremists" connected to al Qaeda in an assault south of Baghdad on Saturday. Muhammad Khalil Ibrahim, identified as the deputy military leader for the al Qaeda's network south of Baghdad, was killed along with two other terrorists in the air strike on their vehicle on Dec. 27,...

BEIJI -- U.S. aircraft bombed a building where suspected insurgents were hiding, killing seven people, Iraqi police said Tuesday. The U.S. military, which did not comment on the deaths, said an unmanned aircraft spotted three people planting a roadside bomb Monday night near Beiji, 155 miles north of Baghdad, and that Navy F-14s were called in. The three left the road site and were traced to a nearby building. "The individuals were assessed as posing a threat to Iraqi civilians and coalition forces," the military said in a statement. It said the aircraft strafed the target and dropped a precision-guided...

HELICOPTER gunships blasted Muslim rebel positions in the southern Philippines today after guerillas attacked an army outpost violating a two-year-old ceasefire. Fighting broke out late yesterday when about 100 guerillas of the Muslim separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) attacked soldiers on the outskirts of Mamasapano town in central Mindanao. They used mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles, spokesmen for the military and MILF said. Fighting continued throughout the night and into today and two MG520 helicopters were called in to attack MILF positions. Extra troops were also deployed to prevent the rebels from overrunning the outpost, military spokesman Colonel...