Thursday, June 08, 2006
Death of a Terrorist
This time it is not a rumor. His death has been confirmed. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi died in an air strike on a safe house near Baquhba in Iraq. Now it is to be seen whether his death would have an impact on insurgents' activities---would we see less of it or a spurt in violence as a new leader tries to prove himself to his followers. "BAGHDAD, June 8 --Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the mastermind behind hundreds of bombings, kidnappings and beheadings in Iraq, was killed early Wednesday by an air strike -northwest of Baghdad, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Thursday. " (The Washington Post)
- U.S. warplanes dropped two 500-pound bombs on a house in which Zarqawi was meeting with other insurgent leaders. A U.S. military spokesman said coalition forces pinpointed Zarqawi's location after weeks of tracking the movements of his spiritual adviser, Sheik Abdul Rahman, who also was killed in the blast.
- Following the attack, coalition forces raided 17 locations in and around Baghdad, seizing a "treasure trove" of information about terror operations in the country, U.S. Major Gen. Bill Caldwell told reporters at a military briefing here. Some of the raids focused on targets the United States had been using to monitor Zarqawi's location, Caldwell said.
