'US blitz kills 21 Qaeda men'
Saturday, January 12, 2008
A MASSIVE US air blitz on al-Qaeda targets south of Baghdad killed a local leader of the jihadi network and at least 20 other militants, the head of an anti-Qaeda front said yesterday.
"Our information confirmed that Walid Khudair, also known as al-Jahash, leader of al-Qaeda in the southern belts of Baghdad was killed," said Mustaf al-Jabouri, leader of the anti-Qaeda "Awakening" group in the targeted village of Arab Jabour.
"Twenty other terrorists were also killed," Sheikh Jabouri, a tribal leader, said.The US military could not confirm that militants were killed in last Thursday's air bombardments, which saw 21,500kg of explosives dropped on 47 targets in a 10-minute blitz on the Sunni area dominated by date palms and citrus groves.
"We have had no reports of any civilians killed," a US military commander Colonel Terry Ferrell told a Baghdad press conference via a video link.
Asked if any al-Qaeda fighters were killed, he said, "I don't have the assessment at this time."
He said the air strike, which involved two B-1 bombers and four F-16 fighter-bombers and which was one of the largest since the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, had targeted roadside bombs and arms caches rather than people.
"We believe we were able to destroy several major improvised explosive devices (roadside bombs)," said Ferrell. Another commander, Colonel Peter Donnelly, told the news conference that 51 targets had initially been identified in the Arab Jabour area but some of them were aborted.
AFP
"Our information confirmed that Walid Khudair, also known as al-Jahash, leader of al-Qaeda in the southern belts of Baghdad was killed," said Mustaf al-Jabouri, leader of the anti-Qaeda "Awakening" group in the targeted village of Arab Jabour.
"Twenty other terrorists were also killed," Sheikh Jabouri, a tribal leader, said.The US military could not confirm that militants were killed in last Thursday's air bombardments, which saw 21,500kg of explosives dropped on 47 targets in a 10-minute blitz on the Sunni area dominated by date palms and citrus groves.
"We have had no reports of any civilians killed," a US military commander Colonel Terry Ferrell told a Baghdad press conference via a video link.
Asked if any al-Qaeda fighters were killed, he said, "I don't have the assessment at this time."
He said the air strike, which involved two B-1 bombers and four F-16 fighter-bombers and which was one of the largest since the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, had targeted roadside bombs and arms caches rather than people.
"We believe we were able to destroy several major improvised explosive devices (roadside bombs)," said Ferrell. Another commander, Colonel Peter Donnelly, told the news conference that 51 targets had initially been identified in the Arab Jabour area but some of them were aborted.
AFP
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