UPDATE 2/15/2007: Reports from Iraq indicate that a top al-Masri aide has been killed and that al Qaeda in Iraq leader Ayyub al-Masri has been wounded. Developing. Check MAIN PAGE for updates.

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Coalition forces in Iraq have delivered a series of stunning blows to al Qaeda in Iraq in the last 48 hours.

A key aide to Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the man who replaced Abu Musab al Zarqawi as the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, has been captured south of Baghdad. As A.J. Strata notes, the trail to the al Qaeda leader is fresh: the captured aide admitted to meeting with al Masri yesterday.

Since Taji is north of Baghdad, these two al Qaeda IED cell leaders captured by the U.S. in West Taji are not the same as those above. That's four al Qaeda leaders captured.

But four is such a lonely number. A facilitator of foreign fighters was captured by the Iarqi Army on the Syrian border. And foreign fighters tend to mean al Qaeda.

Not to be outdone by the IA, the U.S. struck two houses where foreign fighters had gathered---13 jihadis dead. An "individual" associated with foreign fighter facilitation was in the targeted area.

But wait, that's not all. Coalition Forces conducted an air strike Wednesday targeting an al-Qaida in Iraq-related vehicle-borne improvised explosives devices network near Arab Jabour. Intelligence reports indicated that this network is responsible for a large and devastating number of VBIED attacks in the Baghdad area. They are also responsible for IED and sniper attacks conducted against the Iraqi people and Iraqi and Coalition Forces. Building destroyed, everyone inside presumably dead.

And another terrorist was captured in Taji. In addition to leading a bombing cell, he is also believed to be involved in taking Iraqis hostage and murdering them. Which would mean that he is either al Qaeda or one of the related organizations under the umbrella of the "Islamic State of Iraq".

So, we have 6 al Qaeda leaders captured, and possibly dozens more killed. All in the last 48 hours.

Do you see a pattern here? The little bastard al Masri better run and hide. Al Qaeda, you are our bitches!

So, will you see this in the news? No. You. Won't.

FYI--Abu Omar al-Baghdadi is head of "The Islamic State of Iraq". When the jihadi umbrella organization and "shadow government" of "The Islamic State of Iraq" (formerly called "The Mujahideen Shura Council") was formed by al Qaeda, it was thought that the spokesman should be Iraqi. Thus, al-Baghdadi (meaning "from Baghdad") was chosen as its "emir". But there is little doubt that the Islamic State of Iraq is just a PR gimmick. To what extent al-Baghdadi has any actual control over al Qaeda is really unknown. Not that any one at the NYT knows this.

Posted by: Rusty at 10:54 AM | Comments (19) | Add Comment
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