US: Key Al-Qaeda leader killed in Iraq

The U.S. military says a key al-Qaeda leader responsible for moving hundreds of foreign fighters from Syria into Iraq has been killed in northern Iraq.

The military said in a statement on Thursday the man was killed on January 22 after attacking a soldier during a joint Iraqi-U.S. raid in the northern city of Mosul.

It says the man has been identified through fingerprints and other means as Saad Uwayyd Ubayd Mujil al-Shammari, also known as Abu Khalaf.

U.S. intelligence officials have said he has been the terror network’s foremost expert in preparing foreign fighters to cross from Syria into Iraq to launch suicide attacks.

The military says Abu Khalaf has been moving foreign fighters across the border since 2006.