Al Qaeda confirms death of top operative

CONFIRMED DEAD: Abu Maysara, pictured, was killed in a clash with US military last month. (Getty Images)

An Al Qaeda-linked group in Iraq has confirmed the death of Abu Maysara, a top operative who the US military said was killed in a clash last month, according to a recording posted on the web on Saturday.

Abu Omar Al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State in Iraq, hailed Maysara as "a martyr who was a scholar and a mujahid [holy war fighter]", on the audio tape posted on Islamist websites.

The US military said earlier in December that Maysara, a Syrian, was among nine senior Al Qaeda members killed in November. It described him as an adviser to Baghdadi, also known as Abu Ayyub Al-Masri, and his slain predecessor Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi.

Baghdadi called on insurgents to keep fighting during the current Eid Al-Adha feast, when Muslims sacrifice animals.

"May God accept your sacrifice, and may they be the apostates of the Awakening Councils, who are servants of the Crusaders," Baghdadi said, referring to US-backed neighbourhood patrols who fight insurgents.

An increase in US troops, more efficient Iraqi security forces and neighbourhood patrols organised by mainly Sunni Arab tribes have been credited for a decline in violence and a fall in civilian and US military casualties in the past two months.

The tape's authenticity could not be verified but was posted on a main Islamist website often used by insurgent groups and the speaker sounded like earlier recordings of Baghdadi.

While the Iraq wing of Al Qaeda remains at the forefront of many groups fighting US forces and the Shi'ite-led government supported by Washington, its fighters have faced growing opposition in the Sunni areas of Iraq where they operate. (Reuters)

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