Iraqi troops kill al Qaeda’s ‘war minister’ in Anbar: report

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Abu Bakr al Baghdadi al Husseini al Qurshi, the emir or leader of al Qaeda’s Islamic State of Iraq (right).and Din Allah Abu Suleiman, the Islamic State of Iraq’s war minister (left). Photos from Al Sumaria.

Iraqi security forces claimed to have killed al Qaeda in Iraq’s “war minister” during a recent raid in western Iraq. The report has not been confirmed.

Nasser al Din Allah Abu Suleiman, the Islamic State of Iraq’s war minister, was killed by Iraqi Interior Ministry forces during an operation yesterday in the city of Hit in Anbar province, Reuters reported.

“Based on intelligence, Iraqi security forces carried out the raid that killed him. US forces were not involved in this operation,” Major General Qassim al Moussawi, the top spokesman for Iraq’s Interior Minister, told Reuters.

US military and intelligence officials contacted by The Long War Journal could not confirm Suleiman’s death but said they were aware of the reports.

Iraqi officials identified Suleiman as Neaman Salman Mansour al Zaidi after security forces captured the so-called “interior minister” for the Islamic State of Iraq in late 2010. Suleiman was appointed by al Qaeda in May 2010 to serve as the terror group’s top military commander after his predecessor, Abu Ayyub al Masri, was killed in a raid by Iraqi and US forces in April 2010.

Suleiman has directed al Qaeda’s suicide attacks against security forces, government officials, and civilians throughout Iraq. In the latest attack, al Qaeda killed 13 people in yesterday’s suicide bombing in Anbar’s capital of Ramadi.

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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1 Comment

  • lightchild says:

    I’m from China Mainland, so pardon me for my broken english.
    I want to konw if the death of Abu Suleiman has been now confirmed.

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