Baghdad, April 20: Two senior leaders of al-Qa’ida in Iraq, blamed for an upsurge in bombings across the country, have been killed in a raid by US and Iraqi forces.
Abu Ayyub al-Masri and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi died in an attack on a safe house in the northern city of Tikrit, the birthplace of Saddam Hussein and a centre of the Sunni Muslim insurgency.
The night-time operation, conducted by American and Iraqi special forces with support from helicopters, took place after the terrorists were located from interceptions of telephone calls and details supplied by informants.
–Agencies