DUBAI (AFP) — Al-Qaeda in Iraq has confirmed the death of one of its top militants, Abu Qaswarah, and called on followers to avenge his "martyrdom," a US group which monitors Islamist websites said on Wednesday.
SITE Intelligence Group said the confirmation came in an audio message from Al-Qaeda in Iraq's leader Abu Omar al-Baghdadi posted on jihadist forums together with a video of Abu Qaswarah.
The US military said last week that Abu Qaswarah was killed on October 5 during a raid on a building in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul where suspected Al-Qaeda militants were holed up.
Abu Qaswarah, who the US military said was Al-Qaeda's number two in Iraq, held Swedish citizenship, according to Iraq's defence ministry, which said he was a Swede of Moroccan origin.
Baghdadi said the militant died in an act of "martyrdom" by detonating his explosive belt. He had discarded his Swedish citizenship and left his European wife and five children to take part in jihad.
"So whoever loved the martyr, followed his path... let him be honest and as a gift for his master and in revenge for his brother and those with him, kill an infidel among the infidels," he said, according to SITE.
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