No. 2 Al Qaeda in Iraq commander is dead, U.S. reports
Abu Qaswarah blew himself up when U.S. forces attacked his Mosul hide-out last week, the military confirms. Women and children around him also died in the 'crazy scene' of the battle.
BAGHDAD — A Moroccan fighter identified by the U.S. military as the No. 2 commander in Al Qaeda in Iraq detonated a suicide vest rather than surrender when American soldiers attacked his hide-out last week in the northern city of Mosul, a military spokesman said today.
The fighter, known as Abu Qaswarah or Abu Sara, led Al Qaeda in Iraq's northern operations and was the point man for smuggling foreign fighters into that region, according to the military.
U.S. forces were raiding a building where Abu Qaswarah was holed up on Oct. 5 when a gunfight erupted, the military spokesman said. The militant leader, who suffered gunshot wounds, moved upstairs with his fighters and some women and children, and exploded his suicide vest, the spokesman added.
The gunfight and explosion claimed the lives of four other fighters, three women and three children, said the spokesman, who requested anonymity.
"It was a crazy scene," he said. "It's not clear who died from what."
The U.S. military first announced the incident the day it occurred, mentioning that five militants had died in the raid, along with the women and children, and said one of the fighters had blown himself up. But Abu Qaswarah's name was only revealed today after the military had confirmed his identity.
A military statement described him as a former associate of Abu Musab Zarqawi, who founded Al Qaeda in Iraq and died in a U.S. air strike in June 2006. The military said Abu Qaswarah had trained in Afghanistan and had "historic ties" with Al Qaeda leaders in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The military would not say whether the soldiers who carried out the assault on the militants belonged to special forces or a regular unit.
In other developments, senior Iraqi leaders confirmed today that they were seeking to present the long-stalled U.S.-Iraq security agreement to the country's Political Council for National Security as soon as Friday. The body includes Prime Minister Nouri Maliki and the heads of the major political blocs in parliament.
Officials said that if the council approves the text in its current form, it would then probably be submitted to parliament. However, a deal is far from certain.
The agreement, which U.S. officials had once hoped to conclude in July, would provide a legal framework for U.S. forces to stay in Iraq after the United Nations mandate authorizing the presence of American troops expires at the end of the year.
