THE TENSION: Update: Coalition Kills Senior al Qaeda Leader in Iraq

A photo released by Multinational Corps Iraq officials of foreign al Qaeda leader Abu Usama al-Tunisi, who was killed Sept. 25 in an air strike on a building south of Baghdad. Courtesy photo
Dispatches from the Front:

Media outlets reported Friday that the U.S. military in Iraq has killed a senior leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq who was responsible for bringing foreign fighters into the country and kidnapping U.S. soldiers in 2006.

UPDATED POST

Here is the latest official report from MNF-I.

Coalition Forces kill likely successor to Abu Ayyub al-Masri

BAGHDAD, Iraq; Sept. 28, 2007 -- Coalition forces positively identified a foreign terrorist killed in an operation Tuesday in Musayyib as a senior al-Qaeda in Iraq member.

Abu Usama al-Tunisi was in the inner leadership circle of Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq and was a likely successor to him. Al-Tunisi was the military emir of Baghdad’s southern belt and took over the role of emir of foreign terrorists when al-Masri became the overall leader.

Al-Tunisi facilitated foreign terrorists and helped equip them for improvised explosive device attacks, car-bombing campaigns and suicide attacks throughout Baghdad. Foreign terrorists conduct most of the high profile attacks in Iraq. Over 80 percent of the suicide attacks are conducted by foreign terrorists.

During an operation Sept. 25, Coalition forces targeted al-Tunisi and other al-Qaeda in Iraq leaders. Credible intelligence from several previous operations led Coalition forces to the location of a known al-Qaeda in Iraq meeting and supporting aircraft attacked the time sensitive target. Al-Tunisi and two other terrorists were killed during the attack.

Reports indicate that al-Tunisi was involved in the planning and operation of numerous attacks on Coalition forces and is believed to have operated in Yusufiyah since the second battle of Fallujah in November 2004.

Al-Tunisi, like the other top leaders of al Qaeda in Iraq, was not Iraqi. He was Tunisian and had been in Iraq since at least 2004.

“This is one more al-Qaeda in Iraq criminal who will never kill another innocent civilian,” said Maj. Winfield Danielson, MNF-I spokesman. “We will relentlessly pursue all terrorist leaders who threaten Iraqi citizens, their elected government, and Iraqi and Coalition forces.”

(From the MNF-I press desk.)

ORIGINAL POST

Coalition Kills al Qaeda Leader Who Coordinated Foreign Terrorists in Iraq

WASHINGTON, Sept. 28, 2007 (AFPS) -- A top al Qaeda leader who coordinated efforts of foreign terrorists in Iraq was killed this week, a senior official in the region announced today.

Abu Usama al-Tunisi, a foreigner who brought al Qaeda terrorists into Iraq, was killed Sept. 25 in an air strike on a building south of Baghdad where he was meeting with other al Qaeda operatives, Army Brig. Gen. Joseph Anderson, Multinational Corps Iraq's chief of staff, said in a briefing to reporters in the Pentagon.

The meeting was near Musayyib, in Babil province, about 35 miles south of Baghdad. An Air Force F-16 bombed the building. A video provided by defense officials shows a large explosion and the building leveled. Two other al Qaeda members were killed in the blast, and two were detained, Anderson said.

Tunisi was a close associate, and part of the inner circle of advisors to Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the overall leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Anderson said. Officials believe he may have been tapped to succeed Masri.

Originally from Tunisia, Tunisi was the emir of foreign terrorists in Iraq, responsible for overseeing foreign terrorists' movements into Iraq and partnering them with terrorist cells. More than 80 percent of suicide bombings are carried out by foreign terrorists, Anderson said.

Tunisi has been operating in Yusufiyah, southwest of Baghdad, since November 2004 and became emir of the area in 2006. Tunisia's group is believed responsible for the June 2006 kidnappings of two U.S. soldiers who later were found dead.

Anderson said Tunisi's death was the culmination of a series of operations that began Sept. 12 when coalition forces captured a close associate to Tunisi. During the following days, forces ramped up operations and detained several other key associates of Tunisi in separate operations south and west of Baghdad. One was said to have identified Tunisi at the meeting, Anderson said.

The two others killed were Abu Abdullah, reported to be the new emir of the southern part of Baghdad's Karkh region, and Sheikh Hussein, an al Qaeda in Iraq facilitator, Anderson said.

A handwritten letter found at the site indicated that Tunisi's operations were cut off by coalition forces in the area and that he was trying to get direction from leaders, Anderson said.

"We are so desperate for your help," the letter reads.