Al-Qaida leader dies in raid on Iraqi town
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraqi forces killed a local al-Qaida in Iraq leader and two other insurgents in a raid north of Baghdad today, and roadside bombs killed an American soldier and an Iraqi policeman, officials said.
The death toll in two days of fighting around Baqouba climbed to 58, including seven Iraqi soldiers, Maj. Gen. Ahmed al-Awad said.
Provincial police chief Maj. Ghassan al-Bawi said troops and police were on the streets of Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, today and roads to the city were closed because of fears the insurgents might regroup and launch more attacks.
Iraqi commando forces, acting on a tip, raided a house where Hamid al-Takhi, the local al-Qaida in Iraq leader, and the two other insurgents were hiding just outside Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, said police Capt. Laith Mohammed.
Al-Takhi, known as the "emir" of Samarra, was gunned down while fleeing the house, and the other two militants while trying to defend it with grenades, the U.S. military said.
After they were killed, the Iraqi troops found a car parked nearby containing a grenade launcher, rockets, AK-47s, grenades, and a shotgun, the U.S. military said.
Mohammed said al-Takhi had been responsible for many insurgent attacks against coalition forces and civilians in the area.
New information also emerged about an unusual series of coordinated attacks by insurgents on Thursday in and around Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad.
Using mortar rounds, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire, the insurgents attacked five police checkpoints, a police station and an Iraqi army headquarters, Iraqi and U.S. officials said.
Clashes and raids continued through the night, Iraqi officials said.
In addition to the seven Iraqi soldiers, Ahmed said 49 insurgents were killed and 74 others were arrested. U.S. officials said two civilians were killed and the wounded included 10 Iraqi soldiers, four policemen and four civilians.
The violence erupted as Iraq's incoming prime minister won the backing of Iraq's top Shiite cleric for his plan to disband militias, which the U.S. believes is the key to calming sectarian strife and halting the country's slide toward civil war.
The endorsement of Prime Minister-designate Nouri al-Maliki's plan came during a meeting Thursday in Najaf with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. The ayatollah told al-Maliki, a Shiite tapped last weekend to form a new Iraqi government, that security should be his top priority.
Al-Maliki has until late May to present his Cabinet to parliament, the final step in building a national unity government.
The United States believes a government of Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds will help calm sectarian passions and tamp down the Sunni-led insurgency so the 130,000 American troops can begin to go home.
