MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ
COMBINED PRESS INFORMATION CENTER
BAGHDAD, Iraq
http://www.mnf-iraq.com
703.343.8790

June 27, 2007
Release A070627a

High-level senior al-Qaeda leader killed during Coalition operations

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition forces positively identified two terrorists killed in an operation June 23 south of Hawija.

Mehmet Yilmaz, also known as Khalid al-Turki, was a known terrorist and senior leader in al-Qaeda who operated a cell that facilitated the movement of foreign fighters into Iraq for al-Qaeda operations.

Yilmaz was positively identified through photo comparison and a forged Iraqi personal identification card was also found on him.

Yilmaz was an al-Qaeda leader who led a group of Turks to Afghanistan in 2001 to fight against Coalition Forces.  Intelligence reports indicate he was wounded in the fighting there and went to Pakistan for treatment, where he was captured by the government in 2004 and deported to Turkey.  He was released in late 2005 and returned to al-Qaeda operations in 2006, moving his operations to Iraq.  Turkish authorities are also investigating several terrorist operations that may have involved Yilmaz.

Yilmaz was killed when Coalition Forces targeted him during an operation south of Hawija.  As Coalition Forces approached the targeted building, four men got into a vehicle and drove away from the area.  Coalition Forces followed the men, one of whom was believed to be Yilmaz.  When the vehicle stopped, the men got out of the vehicle with weapons in hand.  Coalition Forces, responding appropriately to the hostile threat, engaged the armed men, killing them. 

Inside the vehicle, Coalition Forces found rocket-propelled grenades.  They safely destroyed the vehicle and weapons on site.

Also killed in the operation was Mehmet Resit Isik, also known as Khalil al-Turki, a close associate of Yilmaz who was assessed to be a courier for the same al-Qaeda cell and a close associate of Yilmaz and senior leaders within al-Qaeda.

“These are two very dangerous, very significant international terrorists that are no longer part of the al-Qaeda network,” said Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, MNF-I spokesperson.  “We will continue to relentlessly pursue the terrorist leaders who plan to deny the Iraqi people a future of their choice.”

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