Abu Musab al-Zarqawi Is Dead


Abu Musab al-Zarqawi Is Dead
The leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq is dead, killed in an air strike at 6:15pm local time Wednesday by U.S. Forces at a safe house north of Baghdad.

NYTimes:

At a joint news conference with Iraq's prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, the top American military commander in Iraq, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., said Zarqawi's body had been positively identified by fingerprints, "facial recognition" and "known scars." He said seven of Zarqawi's associates had also been killed in the strike.

[ ... ]

General Casey said an American air strike had targeted "a single dwelling in a wooded area surrounded by very dense palm forest" eight kilometers, or five miles, north of the city of Baquba, and that "precision munitions" had been used, a phrase that usually refers to laser-guided bombs or missiles. An unconfirmed report on Iraq's state-owned television channel, al-Iraqiya, said the attack had been carried out by American attack helicopters.

In a broadcast media report, two 500 pound bombs were dropped on the safe house from a Predator drone. The action came after "intelligence reports [were] provided to Iraqi security forces by residents in the area, and US forces acted on the information."

Notably, al-Qaeda in Iraq has been experiencing persistent losses in the last year and a number of Zarqawi's chief advisors and lieutenants have been captured or killed. The fight against terrorism in Iraq is far from over but the death of their elusive leader is a major defeat.

Hooray for the U.S. and Coalition Forces! I'm going to have a piece of pie.


[Update 0845EDT]

Per FoxNews, two U.S. Air Force F-16 fighters dropped the bombs.

Other coverage:
In The Bullpen
The Jawa Report
Michelle Malkin
Wizbang