Al Qaeda loses key players in Afghanistan

Reuters:

A prominent member of al Qaeda was killed in fighting with U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan, the group said in a statement posted on an Islamist website on Sunday.

Abu Suleiman al-Otaibi, formerly one of the group's leaders in Iraq, was killed in a "fierce battle with the worshipers of the cross" in Paktia, it said without giving the date of the battle.

Another al Qaeda member, identified as Abu Dejana al-Qahtani, also died in the fighting, it added.

Afghan officials said they had no information on the report. But the government earlier said in a statement that "five opposition" fighters were killed on Saturday in Paktia during an operation involving Afghan and U.S.-led troops.

The leader of al Qaeda in Afghanistan Mustafa Abu al-Yazid said Qahtani left Iraq about six months ago without giving further details.

Otaibi was the head of the judiciary at the self-styled Islamic State in Iraq, a group started by al Qaeda and fellow Sunni militant groups.

...

I think the last time soldiers took a cross into battle as an item of worship was when Suleiman captured the "true cross" in a battle with crusaders. It has not been seen since, but somehow Christianity survived and prospered. Al Qaeda on the other hand has been on a losing streak.

I know it will come as a shock to Democrats that al Qaeda ever had any leaders in Iraq, much less that they fled to Afghanistan, but it shows how effective the war in Iraq has been in denying al Qaeda's ambitions. The story also indicates that the hostile environment for al Qaeda is also in Afghanistan.

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