US forces kill al Qaeda’s leader in Mosul

US special operations forces scored a major victory in Mosul today. US forces killed al Qaeda's emir, or leader, of the northern Iraq city during a raid on a safe house.

The emir, who has not been named, was killed after a special operations forces team from Task Force 88, the hunter-killer teams assigned to take down terrorists in Iraq, stormed a building in Mosul. The commandos opened fire after one of the terrorists attempted to detonate his suicide vest was shot and another reached for a pistol. A woman with the group attempted to detonate the vest on the dead al Qaeda operative.

The takedown of al Qaeda's emir in Mosul is the latest blow to the terror network in the North. Over the weekend, the emir of eastern Mosul and the leader of car-bombing operations in western half of the city were detained. On June 20, Coalition forces detained al Qaeda's security emir in Mosul. His predecessor was captured just two months prior, and his predecessor was captured in February.

On June 17, Iraqi security forces captured a senior cell leader for the Islamic State of Iraq, an al Qaeda's front group created to put an Iraqi face on the network. On June 11, Coalition forces captured the leader of al Qaeda's illegal court system in the city.

Scores of cell leaders, facilitators, weapons smugglers, and fighters have been captured or killed by US and Iraqi forces during operations in June.

In mid-May, Iraqi forces captured the leader of al Qaeda's network in Ninewa province. In February and March, US and Iraqi forces killed three senior Saudi-born al Qaeda leaders in the city.

Multinational Forces Iraq has zeroed in on al Qaeda in Iraq's network after operatives attempted to reorganize in the northern city. Al Qaeda last year suffered major defeats in Anbar province, Baghdad, and the surrounding regions.

Fourteen of the 30 senior-most al Qaeda operatives identified as killed or captured by Multinational Forces Iraq between February and May hailed from Mosul.