Task Force 88, the special operations hunter-killer teams assigned to dismantle al Qaeda in Iraq’s leadership, took out a major link in the terror network earlier this month. Today, Multinational Forces Iraq reported “Coalition forces”–which is the code used for the Task Force– killed Tha’ir Malik, the emir of Tarmiyah.
Over the past year, Tarmiyah was one of the most dangerous regions in Iraq. Situated on the Tigris River in south Salahadin province just north of Baghdad, Tarmiyah has been a base of operations for al Qaeda in Iraq. The Task Force conducted raids against al Qaeda’s leadership in the town on a near daily basis. Al Qaeda conducted a coordinated suicide attack and massed assault on a U.S. base in Tarmiyah in February 2007. Malik’s close proximity to al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Ayyub al Masri should not go unnoticed. Yesterday Colonel Bacon noted that two of al Masri’s personal bodyguard were captured last month. “Draw your own conclusions” about the significance of these captures, Bacon said, when discussing the detention of al Masri’s bodyguards. “We think we’re squeezing them, having success.” A slew of al Qaeda in Iraq leaders were killed just prior to the U.S. killing Abu Musab al Zarqawi in Baqubah last year.
