Al Qaeda's Diyala leader killed

Bill Roggio:

As Operation Phantom Phoenix and its subordinate operations progress in central and northern Iraq, Coalition forces confirmed killing a senior al Qaeda in Iraq leader in Diyala province. Coalition force killed Abu Layla al Suri, who is also known as Abu Abd al Rahman, during an intelligence-driven raid in the city of Miqdadiyah in Diyala province, where al Qaeda has established a safe haven.

Al Suri, which translates to "the Syrian," was leader in Diyala, the province al Qaeda claimed as the capital of its Islamic State of Iraq during late 2006. Multinational Forces Iraq did not respond to an inquiry from The Long War Journal about al Suri's nationality. He was "intricately involved in the terrorist network operating in the Diyala River Valley region since October 2006, and was closely associated with several al-Qaeda in Iraq senior leaders," Multinational Forces Iraq reported.

Abu Maysara, a member of the inner circle of al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Ayyub al Masri who served as a senior adviser providing spiritual guidance to wage a terror campaign, was among al Suri's associates. US forces killed Maysara, a Syrian national, in November 2007. Al Suri also "had ties to the al-Qaeda in Iraq propaganda cell leaders in Baghdad, due to his involvement in terrorist media and propaganda operations in Diyala."

Al Suri was killed while wearing a suicide vest. "The ground force found numerous fake IDs and media materials on site, believed to belong to al-Suri, to include propaganda and recruiting videos showing al-Qaeda in Iraq executions and attacks," Multinational Forces Iraq reported.

...
There is a lot of good news in this report. It starts with the fact that we got intelligence on his whereabouts. Intelligence has been one of the main benefits of the new counterinsurgency strategy. More of it was gathered at the scene where he was killed. The propaganda material found at the scene also is a good indication of al Qaeda's strategy which is more PR oriented than most people realize.

The other good news is the continued destruction of al Qaeda's leadership infrastructure. Al Qaeda is already struggling in Iraq and as more of its leadership is destroyed, its struggles will only grow worse. That this particular guy was a Syrian demonstrates how important the foreign fighters are to the movement despite what the NY Times might think.

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