Another one bites the dust

According to news sources, U.S. and Iraqi authorities said Tuesday their forces had killed the No. 2 official in the al-Qaida in Iraq.

Abdullah Abu Azzam led al-Qaida's operations in Baghdad, planning a brutal wave of suicide bombings in the capital since April, killing hundreds of people, officials said. He also controlled the finances for foreign fighters that flowed into Iraq to join the insurgency.

Abu Azzam, who an Iraqi government spokesman said was an Iraqi, was the top deputy to the group's leader, Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Abu Azzam was on a list of Iraq's 29 most-wanted insurgents issued by the U.S. military in February and had a bounty of $50,000 on his head.

Here is the CentCom news release.

Multiple intelligence sources and corroborating information from a close associate of Abu Azzam led Coalition and Iraqi security forces to the terrorist safe house where the al Qaeda in Iraq leader was hiding. A combined operation was conducted with the intent of capturing the wanted terrorist; however, Abu Azzam fired on the forces, and their return fire killed the al Qaeda in Iraq leader.

Note the singing "close associate".

According to Captain's Quarters:

The intelligence keeps getting better and better, and the noose grows ever tighter. Zarqawi may replace these positions as fast as we capture or kill the incumbents, but each time that happens he has to use people with less skill and experience as replacements. That means more mistakes, less communication with external units, both of which forces the terrorists to simplify strategy and tactics to remain successful on their missions.

As I mentioned in this post, another senior terrorist was killed in Haditha on Sept 18.

Such operations, which again are related to this larger campaign in the north and west to put pressure on the rat lines following the rivers between Syria and Baghdad, and disrupt terrorist activities ahead of the October constitutional referendum, indicate US and Iraqi intelligence is excellent. As more terrorists are captured, more information is gathered, which leads to other operations, and we are seeing increased momentum.

Bill Roggio in his post at The Fourth Rail says this about Abu Azzam:

While the report indicates Azzam was the chief financier for al Qaeda in Iraq, he has a longer pedigree than just a moneyman. Azzam was a native Iraqi and a member of Zarqawi’s original terrorist group Jamaat al-Tawhid wa'l-Jihad. He was a ruthless al Qaeda commander in the Anbar province who was directly responsible for murdering government officials in the region during the summer of 2004.

When it was believed Zarqawi was on his deathbed last spring, intelligence officials suspected Azzam was one of several candidates to succeed Zarqawi. Of the nine likely candidates, three have been killed - Suleiman Khalid Darwish, another longtime Zarqawi aide and senior member of al-Tawhid wa'l-Jihad, or captured - Abu Talha, al Qaeda’s commander in Mosul and former leader of Ansar al-Islam. Talha’s network in northern Iraq has been all but dismantled.

Azzam was no small player in jihad in Iraq. He was an experienced and ruthless killer, who as a native Iraqi understood the culture and context of Iraq greater than the foreign jihadis in country. His contacts are likely to be top notch. He will need to be replaced, and his replacement will have less influence and experience than his predecessor. Destroying al Qaeda in Iraq is a laborious process, but one that can be accelerated by taking out vital leaders and middle managers.

This Fox News article says US Special Forces were involved.

This article, link courtesy of Balanced News Blog, says:

A US military official said Azzam was killed in a high-rise block in the Iraqi capital after a tip-off from an Iraqi citizen.
...
Another US spokesman said Azzam had been tracked for some time, and his death was a "significant development".

Again, indications that intelligence is playing a vital role.

Security Watchtower has an impressive roundup of terrorists now enjoying their 72 crystal raisins.

Bill Roggio has more on the pounding the terrorist leadership is taking.

Belmont Club talks about the "oil spot strategy".