Baghdad, Iraq – U.S. forces raided a cluster of buildings and killed the chief propagandist for al-Qaeda in Iraq, a key figure in the abductions of journalist Jill Carroll and slain peace activist Tom Fox, the military said Thursday.
A coalition of Sunni Arab insurgent groups that includes al-Qaeda in Iraq confirmed the death of Muharib Abdul Latif al-Juburi on its website, saying he had been “martyred” in a clash.
The raid near Taji, north of Baghdad, capped a six-day U.S. offensive, dubbed Operation Rat Trap, aimed at al-Qaeda-related targets in several cities.
U.S. officials recently have shifted blame for most of the country’s violence from Shiite Muslim militias to Sunni Muslim insurgents loyal to al-Qaeda.
They accuse the insurgents of stepping up their activities in hopes of fueling sectarian warfare and derailing a U.S.-Iraqi security plan.
Since the plan’s launch in mid-February, groups linked to al-Qaeda have claimed responsibility for several high-profile attacks, including a suicide bombing that killed nine U.S. soldiers and a blast that killed a lawmaker inside the Iraqi parliament building.
Violence struck the heavily fortified Green Zone, where the parliament is located, again this week when incoming rockets killed four civilian contractors, the U.S. Embassy reported Thursday.
The victims of Wednesday’s attack were a Filipino, two Indians and a Nepali, the embassy said in a statement.
It was the latest in a string of attacks, including the parliament blast, that have exposed the vulnerabilities of the walled enclave where U.S. and Iraqi government offices are located.
A U.S. military spokesman said al-Juburi and four associates were killed when they resisted attempts by U.S. troops to detain them during a 2 a.m. raid Tuesday.
