Washington Post: Two Missing U.S. Soldiers Found Dead
BAGHDAD, July 20–Two U.S. soldiers missing since an attack on a checkpoint last week have been found dead near a power plant in Yusifiyah, south of Baghdad, according to an Iraqi defense official.
Maj. Gen. Abdul Aziz Muhammed-Jassim, head of operations at the Iraqi Ministry of Defense, said the soldiers had been “barbarically” killed and that there were traces of torture on their bodies…
UPDATE: New Leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq Practices Human Sacrifice
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — The new leader of al-Qaida in Iraq killed two U.S. soldiers whom the group abducted last week, an insurgent umbrella group said in a Web statement posted Tuesday. The statement, which could not be authenticated, said the two soldiers were ”slaughtered,” suggesting they had been beheaded by Abu Hamza al-Muhajer.
The Arabic word used in the statement, ”nahr,” is used for the slaughtering of sheep by cutting the throat and has been used in past statements to refer to beheadings…
AND
The statement in the name of the Mujahedeen Shura Council, said: ”We give the good news … to the Islamic nation that we have carried God’s verdict by slaughtering the two captured crusaders.”
”With God Almighty’s blessing, Abu Hamza al-Muhajer carried out the verdict of the Islamic court” for the soldier’s slaying, the statement said….
AND (by Michael van der Galien)
An AQ leader killed (?), see also the BBC
Gen Caldwell said on Tuesday US forces had killed Zarqawi’s “right-hand man” in a raid in Yusifiya on Friday, near where the US troops were abducted.
The general said Iraqi Mansur Suleiman al-Mashhadani was “a key leader in al-Qaeda” and could have succeeded Zarqawi.
and Centcom reports:
Coalition forces detained a senior al-Qaida in Iraq network member and three suspected terrorists during coordinated raids southwest of Baqouba June 19.
The terrorist is reportedly a senior al-Qaida cell leader throughout central Iraq , north of Baghdad . He’s known to be involved in facilitating foreign terrorists throughout central Iraq , and is suspected of having ties to previous attacks on Coalition and Iraqi forces.