HVT #8 – Al-Qaeda Shura Leader of Mosul Captured in Mosul

Iraqi forces capture Ali Mahmoud Yahya, Emir of the Mujahideen Shura in Mosul

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al Qaeda in Iraq’s Mujahideen Shura.

Iraqi and Coalition forces continue to rack up senior al Qaeda in Iraq and insurgent leaders. The Kuwaiti News Agency reports “Ali Mahmoud Yahya, [also known as] Abu Huthaifa and works as an Amir of a Shura Council for Mujahideen in Mosul,” has been captured. Also captured was his assistant, “Mohammad Mahmoud… code-named Abu Abdulrahman”. Four other terrorists were capture and a weapons cache was discovered in subsequent operations.

The emir of Mosul is a high ranking position in al Qaeda’s organization. While this isn’t stated, he is likely a regional commander (or general in western terms) and may report directly to al Qaeda in Iraq’s central Mujahideen Shura. Just two days ago it was reported that Khalid Mahal, the Emir of Anbar Province, was killed. On September 20th, 25 were killed and over 30 wounded when a suicide bomber detonated in the middle of a Mosul market.

This marks the eighth high value al Qaeda and insurgent leader killed or captured since the beginning of September. Along with Mahal, Omar al-Farouq, who was a senior aide to bin Laden and a former operations chief in Southeast Asia, was killed in Basra earlier in the week. Muntasir Hamoud Ileiwi al-Jubour, a member of Ansar al-Sunnah’s military Shura, and an as of yet unnamed military commander of the 1920s Revolution Brigades were captured over the weekend. A second unnamed commander of the 1920s Revolution Brigades was captured earlier this week. Abu Jaafar al-Liby was killed and Hamed Jumaa Farid al-Saeedi was captured earlier this month. Both were members of al Qaeda in Iraq’s Mujahideen Shura.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

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9 Comments

  • High Value Target #8 Taken Down in Iraq

    Bill at Fourth Rail reports that the eigth HVT has been captured in Iraq, Ali Mahmoud Yahya which is the emir of Mosul in the al-Qaeda in Iraq.

  • ECH says:

    From what I hear the the Sunni tribes have started offering intel and going on the offensive themselves.
    “Another tribal sheikh, Hameed Farhan, said most tribes supported the agreement. He called for tribesmen to join the army and police and said Maliki promised Iraqi troops for Anbar. “If the government gives us support, you will see what we can do,” he told Iraqiya state television.
    Iraqi journalists for Reuters in Ramadi said another Qaeda figure named Zuhair, known locally as “The Butcher of Anbar,” was killed by tribal gunmen on Monday.”
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/27/AR2006092700736.html

  • Dale in Atlanta says:

    Bill, in the article, you’ve listed the HVT #8 AND his assistant by the SAME name? Was that intentional?

  • Bill Roggio says:

    Dale, Fix & thanks. It was a copy error.

  • evariste says:

    Their logo’s hilarious, it’s very Web 2.0.

  • Steve-o says:

    This rash of “gets” of high ranking bad guys would indicate an upcoming improvement in the local situation. Is that a reasonable assumption or no? Replacements for such positions usually have less ability and experience, and make more mistakes.

  • HVT #8 – Al-Qaeda Shura Leader of Mosul Captured in Mosul

    Courtesy of The Fourth Rail:
    Iraqi forces capture Ali Mahmoud Yahya, Emir of the Mujahideen Shura in Mosul
    al-Qaeda in Iraq’s Mujahideen Shura.
    Iraqi and Coalition forces continue to rack up senior al-Qaeda in Iraq and insurgent leaders. Th…

  • Wally Lind says:

    Keep up the good work. I wonder how much of these hits the enemy can take, before their operations are totally screwed.

  • Key al Qaeda figure killed in northern Iraq

    On Monday, Iraqi police sources announced the killing of Saad Tager Al- Rayashi (aka Abu Fad’am), reportedly a leading al Qaeda figure in northern Iraq. Al-Rayashi was killed on Friday in a firefight with Iraqi forces near the Himyariya checkpoint in t…

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