June 16, 2005

Al Qaeda Leader Captured in Mosul

A man described as a leader of al Qaeda in Iraq has been captured in Mosul. The image to the right is from Evan Kohlmann's organizational chart of al Qaeda in Iraq which can be found here. Abu Talha seems to have been al Qaeda's key man in the city of Mosul, long a strong hold for the terrorists. Notice that he was turned in by locals and that although he sent suicide bombers to their deaths he wasn't so brave himself. CNN:

The U.S. military on Thursday reported the capture of a man described as al Qaeda's leader in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

Air Force Brig. Gen. Donald Alston identified him as Abu Talha -- whose actual name is Muhammad Khalaf Shakar -- and said he was captured on Tuesday.

"Talha has been one of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's most trusted operations agents in Iraq," Alston said. "This is a major defeat for the al Qaeda organization in Iraq."

"Numerous reports indicated he wore a suicide vest 24 hours a day and stated that he would never surrender. Instead, Talha gave up without a fight," Alston said.

Talha surrendered to multinational forces in a quiet neighborhood in Mosul, Alston said, after information from Iraqi civilians contributed to his capture.

Civilians providing such information indicates they are taking steps against the "increasingly unpopular insurgency," he said.