The Iraqi government announced the capture of two more lieutenants of terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi today as the Coalition continues to roll up Zarqawi's networks. The Iraqis say one of the men was Zarqawi's chief operational officer for Baghdad:

The government on Friday announced the arrests of two close associates of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, including the chief of the terror mastermind's Baghdad operation. The announcement came two days before historic elections that extremists have vowed to subvert. ...

Qassim Dawoud, a top security adviser, told reporters that the arrests of the al-Zarqawi lieutenants occurred in mid-January but gave few details. Dawoud said one of the men, Salah Suleiman al-Loheibi, headed al-Zarqawi's Baghdad operation and had met with the Jordanian-born terror leader more than 40 times over three months.

The other was identified as Ali Hamad Yassin al-Issawi.

The announcement brings to three the number of purported al-Zarqawi lieutenants arrested this month. The announcement appeared aimed at bolstering public confidence in security forces in advance of Sunday's election.

Violence still continued in Iraq today, with six polling stations coming under fire and three more bombings. The arrests of the terror leadership still means operatives exist at large, and they will attempt to fulfill their specific missions unless intercepted. However, with the leadership arrested and communications degraded, their ability to coordinate will disappear, and the operatives will increasingly get themselves killed as they operate farther into the open.

The terrorists will certainly give the security forces, Iraqi and American both, lots of trouble in the next few days. It appears, though, that the security forces have given Zarqawi and his gang of thugs much more trouble than they anticipated -- and if the Iraqis keep getting good intelligence, the leadership may have to run for the hills soon to keep themselves from falling into Coalition hands.

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry is

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Zarqawi Network Collapse Continuing:

» Two al-Zarqawi Lieutenants Arrested from The Carden Chronicles
AP Wire | 01/28/2005 | 2 Zarqawi Associates Said Arrested in Iraq Two more of al-Zarqawi's top men have apparently been arrested. Although few details were released, the Iraqi minister of state for national security, Qassim Dawoud, stated that one... [Read More]

Tracked on January 28, 2005 6:59 AM

» Zarqawi Network Collapse Continuing from Hyscience
Although I don't share Captain Ed's optimism that the collapse of the al-Zarqawi network has begun, much less is continuing, I do agree that the multiple capture of members in the Zarqawi network can upset the timing and efficiency of the attacks. [Read More]

Tracked on January 28, 2005 8:35 AM

» Zarqawi Arrests from Secure Liberty
The effort to dismanle Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's organization is meeting with some excellent recent success. Authorities in Iraq have arrested two close associates of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, including the chief of the terror mastermind's Baghdad operation... [Read More]

Tracked on January 28, 2005 9:37 AM

» Zarquai loses two more captains from The Anchoress
On top of yesterday's excellent news, this morning Captain Ed highlights that two more of his captains have gone down. Clearly, Ted Kennedy's sour assertions aside, our people are getting the job done. [Read More]

Tracked on January 28, 2005 10:14 AM

» Three Of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Aides Captured from Diggers Realm
Three more aides gone. Who is Zarqawi relying on for his support now, the Gomer Pyle of the terrorists? Yahoo/AP With crucial national elections only two days away, Iraqi officials announced the arrests of three more purported lieutenants of Abu... [Read More]

Tracked on January 28, 2005 6:13 PM

» Why We Should Fight Dirty. from Y-2-DRAY 4-EVER!
... in order to win a war, you have to plan how to win the peace. In the end, the only way to win friends may lie not in merely defeating your enemies, but by crushing them into irrelevance. If both the Right and Wrong ever wonder why Iraq is slowly ... [Read More]

Tracked on January 29, 2005 9:59 PM

» Good News From America from RussBlog - Russell Newquist's Weblog
Well, it's late again, but the "Good News" segment is finally back! I've decided to officially make this a biweekly column instead of weekly. It's my favorite part of this blog to work on, but it just takes up so much time that I can't get it out any... [Read More]

Tracked on February 8, 2005 10:39 AM