BAGHDAD, Iraq — Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Al Qaeda in Iraq leader who led a brutal insurgency that included homicide bombings, kidnappings and beheadings, was killed in an airstrike on a building north of Baghdad, U.S. and Iraqi officials announced Thursday.
Officials said the terror leader's identity was confirmed by fingerprints, facial recognition, and known scars.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki said al-Zarqawi was killed along with seven aides Wednesday evening at around 6:15 p.m. local time in a bombing raid on a building in a remote area 30 miles northeast of Baghdad in Diyala province.
Loud applause broke out as Al-Maliki, flanked by U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and U.S. Gen. George Casey, the top commander in Iraq, made the announcement at a news conference in Baghdad Thursday that al-Zarqawi was "terminated."
In a statement posted on the Web, Al Qaeda in Iraq confirmed the death of al-Zarqawi and vowed to continue its "holy war." "We want to give you the joyous news of the martyrdom of the mujahed sheik Abu Musab al-Zarqawi," said the statement, signed by "Abu Abdel-Rahman al-Iraqi," identified as the deputy "emir" or leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq.
Al-Zarqawi, who is believed to have personally beheaded at least two American hostages, became Iraq's most wanted militant — as notorious as Usama bin Laden, to whom he swore allegiance in 2004.
-excerpts from foxnews.com 8:35am
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