Baghdad: US and Iraqi forces killed a senior Al-Qaeda leader allegedly responsible for organising car bombs and suicide attacks in a firefight outside Baghdad, the US military said today.

The operative, known as Abu Ghazwan al-Hayali, was killed Thursday night during an operation by US troops and the Sons of Iraq, a Sunni militia allied with the US military, in the town of Tarmiyah north of the capital.

Hayali had been responsible for "building and facilitating vehicle-borne explosive devices (car and truck bombs) in the Baghdad area," the military said in a statement.

"Additionally, he was responsible for other terrorist groups, which recruit and train children and females to conduct suicide attacks" against Iraqi and US-led forces.

The military added that two members of the Sons of Iraq were wounded by an explosion during the exchange of fire in which Hayali was killed.

In the past year US and Iraqi forces have killed dozens of local leaders of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, a franchise inspired by Osama Bin Laden s global network, contributing to a sharp drop in violence in the war-torn country.
Source : PTI