Baghdad:
The US military confirms the two leaders of Al-Qaida in Iraq have been killed in a joint operation with Iraqi forces.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced the killings of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri earlier on Monday at a news conference in Baghdad and showed reporters photographs of their bloody corpses.
US forces commander Gen Raymond Odierno says the deaths are potentially the most significant blow to the terrorist organization since the beginning of the insurgency.
The US military said they were killed in a nighttime raid on their safehouse Sunday near Tikrit, the hometown of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
The Iraqi government has claimed multiple times over that it had either captured or killed al-Baghdadi, most recently a year ago.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced the killings of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri earlier on Monday at a news conference in Baghdad and showed reporters photographs of their bloody corpses.
US forces commander Gen Raymond Odierno says the deaths are potentially the most significant blow to the terrorist organization since the beginning of the insurgency.
The US military said they were killed in a nighttime raid on their safehouse Sunday near Tikrit, the hometown of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
The Iraqi government has claimed multiple times over that it had either captured or killed al-Baghdadi, most recently a year ago.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
