US Department of Defense reports Iraqi Al Qaeda "safe house" hit

September 7, 2005

An air strike by coalition aircraft destroyed a house in the city of al-Jaramil, in western Iraq. The house was believed to have been used by the al-Qaeda terrorist organization as a safe house. A man, identified as Abu Ali and believed by coalition forces officials to be a foreign fighter facilitator was believed to have been killed in the attack.

According to officials, Ali was linked to other facilitators in the towns of Hīt, al-Qaim, Karabila and Husayba as well as having connections to the Mosul area, including an individual that was captured in June and another killed last month. He was also said have had links to Syria and Saudi Arabia, where he reportedly recruited most of his foreign fighters.

It's believed that he brought the foreign fighters into Iraq, where they were dispatched to various insurgent groups operating in the country and carried out attacks against Iraqi civilians, Iraqi Security Forces and Coalition forces.

Secondary explosions were reported by the pilots of the aircraft, indicating that the house also contained a cache of weapons.

The munitions used were selected to reduce the risk to civilians in the area, according to the US Department of Defense.

Source

 * al-Qaeda safe house destroyed in Iraq CNN, September 8, 2005.
 * Department of Defense news report September 7, 2005.