As US and Iraq forces maintain the pressure on al Qaeda in Iraq’s network, US forces killed a senior al Qaeda operative behind the single most deadly attack in Iraq since the start of the war. On September 3, the US Air Force killed Abu Muhammad al Afri, the emir of Sinjar in Mosul province.
Al Afri was one of al Qaeda leaders who ordered the devastating attacks against the Yazidi villages near Singar. The US military say over 334 were killed during the multiple suicide truck bombings in the remote village, but media outlets put the death toll at over 500. The bombings accounted for about 30 percent of the 1,809 Iraqi deaths over the course of August; the figure of 500 dead is used in the monthly reporting.
Al Afri “was killed during a kinetic strike in a very remote area 70 miles southwest of Mosul,” Multinational Forces Iraq reported. The US Air Force bombed his location, and “close associates and detainees confirmed that al Afri was killed during the strike.”
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According to a Wall Street Journal article today, US forces just set up a base near the Iraq-Iran border and are setting up border checkpoints including x-ray machines. Your thoughts?
kudos to the USAF. i think the unsung “assasins” in this are the Spec. Ops teams who have been watching him and possibly lased the target. could have been as easy as “roping” the target with a laser mounted on a M-416.
Although it says USAF, would the guided rockets system not be a better weapon? It would take lets say 20 minutes to dispatch an F-16 at considerable cost and risk, while the rocket could arrive in 3 minutes at very little cost.
What is stopping platoon leaders to carry a laser finder and send fire packets to the launch people? This is so simple, fast and effective.
Now lets go and find where Moqtada’s outhouse is.
Alex
The press has mangled the story.
The base is for the Georgian 3rd Brigade.
They do not have sufficient engineers and need a home base while they assist the Iraqi Border Guards.
I suspect special forces may have been involved, in locating and targeting, but timing and availability would be the deciding factor on what weapons were used.
Nice intel. This shows a good organization of intel guys, informants, ability to act. Iraq is getting to be a small place for bad guys who’s names get high on the get list. Double plus good on the reach out and touch someone for the Air Force.
Push ’em back, push ’em back, way back. It’s nice to see these type of things occurring not in baghdad but in the hingerlands. Less people there to hide amongst.
Good Show!
I wonder how the people of the Yazidi villages reacted to the news that this pos is dead and his close associates are off the streets.
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The people of the Yezedi towns (more properly, “mujamaa” or, plural, “mujama’at” i.e. collectives) are looking forward to rebuilding their homes before the winter comes. The dead are buried and life goes on; the Yezedi are gentle, fatalistic people and are indifferent about revenge. That’s why this attack was such a cheap shot- like truck-bombing an Amish town. Bastards.