The U.S. army said Saturday it killed a senior al-Qaeda in Iraq leader suspected of masterminding one of the deadliest bombings in Baghdad as well as recent attacks and the 2006 videotaped execution of a kidnapped Russian official. American troops also killed the man's wife after a firefight as they tried to capture him Friday in the northern neighborhood of Azamiyah in Baghdad, the military said, according to the AP.
Mahir Ahmad Mahmud al-Zubaydi, also known as Abu Assad or Abu Rami, allegedly directed the cell believed to be responsible for nearly simultaneous car bomb and suicide attacks Thursday, according to the statement. Iraqi police and hospital officials have said some two dozen people were killed in Thursday's attacks targeting two Shiite mosques in Baghdad.
Al-Zubaydi was one of the most senior activists to be killed by American forces.
His death would be a major blow to al-Qaeda in Iraq even as the group's recruiting efforts have been "severely curbed" by a decision of many Sunnis to join forces with the Americans in the fight against it, military spokesman Rear Adm. Patrick Driscoll said.
"His removal from the AQI network will send shockwaves through Baghdad's terrorist bombing networks," Driscoll said in the statement.
The military also blamed al-Zubaydi for responsible for several car bombings and mortar attacks in Baghdad's main Shiite district of Sadr City in 2006 and 2007, including a series of blasts that killed more than 200 people on Nov. 23, 2006.
Al-Zubaydi also was believed to have planned and participated in abductions and videotaped executions, including one in which he is personally seen shooting one of four kidnapped Russians, according to the statement. The Russian embassy workers were abducted in June 2006 after an attack on their car in Baghdad's Mansour neighborhood. They were later killed, along with a fifth Russian.
