Al-Qaida leader killed in US strike in Iraq

BAGHDAD: A US military helicopter fired a guided missile to kill a wanted Al-Qaida leader in Iraq from Saudi Arabia who was responsible for the bombing deaths of five American soldiers, a spokesman said on Sunday.
US Navy Rear Admiral Gregory Smith said Jar Allah, also known as Abu Yasir al-Saudi, and another Saudi known only as Hamdan, were both killed on Wednesday in Mosul.
According to the military, Al-Saudi conducted numerous attacks against Iraqi and US forces, including a Jan 28 bomb attack that killed five US soldiers.
In that attack, insurgents blasted a US patrol with a roadside bomb and showered survivors with gunfire from a mosque. The soldiers died in the explosion -- the deadliest on American forces since six soldiers perished Jan 9 in a booby-trapped house north of Baghdad.
Intelligence gathered in the Mosul area led the US military to Al-Saudi, who was in a car with Hamdan. A precision helicopter strike killed both and destroyed their vehicle. US forces then confirmed the men's identities.
Smith said their deaths brought to 142 the number of Al-Qaida insurgents killed or captured in Mosul since the beginning of the year.
Al-Saudi was the man who headed up the Al-Qaida network in southeast Mosul, an insurgent hotbed where US forces wage daily battles against the group.
"Mosul is the center of Al-Qaida's terrorist activities today. Mosul is a critical crossroads for Al-Qaida in Iraq. Baghdad has always been Al-Qaida's operational center of gravity, but Mosul remains their strategic center of gravity as it provides access to the flow of foreign fighters," Smith said.