Blow to al-Qaeda as Iraq deputy is killed

UNITED States and Iraqi forces have shot dead the second-in-command of al-Qaeda in Iraq, dealing a "serious blow" to the militant group, a US commander said yesterday.

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Laith Kubba, a spokesman for the Iraqi government, called the killing of Azzam a "painful blow" to al-Qaeda, but warned that the group would probably carry out revenge attacks.

Azzam's death was followed by two other successes against the leadership of al-Qaeda in Iraq, officials said.

The group's leader in the northern city of Mosul surrendered to the Iraqi military, and its leader in the town of Karabila, in the sensitive region near the Syrian border, was killed.

The Karabila leader, identified as Abu Nasser, died along with several others on Monday in a raid on the group's headquarters in the city, Mr Kubba said.

General Wafiq al-Samaraei, the Iraqi president's national security adviser, said Abu Nasser was killed in a US air strike.

The area near the Syrian border is key to the infiltration of foreign fighters joining Iraq's insurgency. Mr Kubba acknowledged that "foreigners move freely" in the region.
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