US military says senior al-Qaida-in-Iraq member killed

The US military said today it killed a mid-ranking member of al-Qaida-in-Iraq and his driver in an air strike in Ramadi.

In a brief statement, the military said Rafa al-Ithawi, also known as Abu Taha, was killed in the city 70 miles west of Baghdad yesterday by precision laser guided weapons that destroyed his vehicle.

It said al-Ithawi had been named an emir under the group, giving him the rank of local level commander in Anbar province, the heart of the Sunni insurgency that has stubbornly battled on against US troops and their Iraqi allies.

Al-Qaida-in-Iraq has sworn affiliation to Saudi terrorist leader Osama bin Laden and is blamed for engineering many of the most brutal incidents of sectarian violence in Iraq.

The military said al-Ithawi frequently provided haven for foreign militants who come to Iraq to carry out attacks on civilians and US coalition forces.

“This and other recent operations in the region highlight the deliberate, methodical dismantlement of the al-Qaida-in-Iraq network and those who contribute to its illegal actions,” the statement said.

The Iraqi government issued a nearly identical statement about the attack, but gave no additional details.

The US military killed al-Qaida-in-Iraq’s founder, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, in a similar airstrike in May.