No.2 of al-Qaeda in Iraq shot dead

The number two of Iraq's al-Qaeda group, Abu Azzam, has been shot dead by Iraqi and US forces in Iraqi capital Baghdad, security sources said Tuesday.

Abu Azzam, a financier and religious aide to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was killed in a joint US-Iraqi raid on his hideout in a apartment building on Monday.

The US military confirmed that the operation resulted from a tip-off from an Iraqi citizen.

Al-Qaeda in Iraq, which is linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terror network, is one of the most feared militant groups in the country and claims responsibility for many of the deadliest attacks.

U.S. authorities are offering a 25-million-dollar bounty on Zarqawi.

Source: Xinhua