Al-Qaida leader killed in Mosul

MOSUL, Iraq, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- U.S. military forces in Iraq said they killed a major al-Qaida figure based in the restive northern city of Mosul during a recent operation with Iraqi soldiers.

A joint release from the U.S. and Iraqi military forces announced Abu Khalaf was killed Jan. 22 when he attacked a member of their unit during "a warranted operation."

The U.S. Treasury Department included Khalaf on its list of sanctioned terrorists in May 2009. He was linked to insurgent operations based in Syria, where he served as a facilitator for the transit of foreign fighters into Iraq.

Senior intelligence officials who spoke anonymously to The Long War Journal, an online military and intelligence forum, said Khalaf migrated to Mosul from Syria at some point in late 2009. U.S. and Iraqi officials began uncovering evidence on the terrorist mastermind when they broke up a suicide operation Jan. 12.

"Khalaf was perhaps the most dangerous al-Qaida in Iraq facilitator in Iraq," one intelligence officer told The Journal.

Intelligence officials said his death struck a major blow to al-Qaida's network in Iraq. Joint U.S. and Iraqi forces said they uncovered hundreds of pounds of explosives in the raid that followed the assault.

"Khalaf was responsible for coordinating recent suicide attacks in Baghdad and Anbar (province)," the official said. His death left a major "void in the AQI hierarchy."