Al Qaeda in Iraq has confirmed that two of its senior leaders had been killed a week ago by the U.S. and Iraqi troops, U.S. media reported on Sunday.
CNN said that Al Qaeda posted a statement on the Islamist website confirming a statement made last week by the U.S. officials saying that Abu Ayyub al-Masri and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi had been killed in a joint Iraqi-US operation.
"We find it quite difficult that we are announcing the news of the loss of the Islamic nation once again," the statement signed by Abu Al-Walid Abdel Wahab Al-Mashadani, the minister of the Religious Committees in the Islamic State of Iraq said. "The loss of two great Jihadi leaders who are known for their heroism on the path of struggle," it continued.
Earlier this month, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki also confirmed the deaths on an Iraqi TV-channel. "The attack was carried out by ground forces which surrounded the house, and also through the use of missiles," al-Maliki said.
According to the U.S. military the deaths dealt a "potentially devastating blow" to the terrorist organization.
The commander of U.S. Forces-Iraq, Gen. Raymond Odierno, said in an interview with CNN that it would be "very difficult" for the al-Qaeda to replace the two men.
Egyptian al-Masri was a military leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq since 2006 and the link in Iraq to Osama bin Laden when al-Baghdadi, who held the title "Prince of the Faithful," was a leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, a group that includes al-Qaeda in Iraq.
MOSCOW, April 25 (RIA Novosti)
