Troops arrest 'senior terror leader'

The US military said today it had arrested a “senior leader” in the network run by Jordanian terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, along with five others during night raids in the rebel stronghold of Fallujah.

US forces have stepped up operations in Fallujah in a bid to root out al-Zarqawi’s terror group, Tawhid and Jihad, which is believed to operate from there. The group has been blamed for numerous suicide bombings and beheadings of foreign hostages, including recent twin blasts inside Baghdad’s Green Zone, which houses the Usand Iraqi leadership.

The 1.30am raid (11.30pm Irish time yesterday) conducted in southern Fallujah hit a site being used as a safe haven by al-Zarqawi’s inner circle, according to a military statement.

Intelligence sources said the man captured was recently assessed to be a relatively minor member of the terror network, but because of a surge in the number of al-Zarqawi associates captured or killed in US strikes, the member had moved up to take a critical position as a “Zarqawi senior leader”.

Five other suspected terrorists were also detained during the raid in Fallujah, about 40 miles west of Baghdad.