Is Terror Leader Al-Zarqawi Dead?
Efforts Underway To Determine If Terror Leader Killed In Gunfight
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Play CBS Video Video Is Zarqawi Dead Or Alive? National Security correspondent David Martin responds to the news that the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was killed in a shootout with U.S. troops.
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Video Outsmarting The U.S. Military Kimberly Dozier reports on the Iraq insurgency's ability to adjust to the U.S. military's sophisticated technology to stop suicide roadside bomb attacks.
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Video Iraq Debate Tails Bush To Asia As President Bush continues his trip through East Asia, the bitter debate on Capitol Hill over the mounting U.S. death toll in Iraq continues to escalate. John Roberts reports.
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Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (CBS)
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An hooded Iraqi soldier secures the area where a British patrol, background right, was attacked by a roadside bomb in the southern city of Basra, Iraq, Sunday, Nov. 20, 2005. (CBS/AP)
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An Iraqi policeman stands in front of the wreckage of a car bomb which exploded in central Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Nov. 19. (AP)
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People gather near the wreckage of a car bomb which exploded at a market killing at least 13 people and wounding 21, in Baghdad Saturday, Nov. 19. (AP)
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An Iraqi takes his daughter away from collapsed apartment building at the site where two suicide bombers detonated explosives-laden cars in central Baghdad, Nov. 18, 2005. (Getty Images/Mauricio Lima)
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Photo Essay Double Car Bombs A pair of car blasts were only part of new violence in Iraq Friday that left at least 70 dead.
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Interactive American Heroes Profiles of U.S. soldiers who've died in Iraq, a look at the war's toll and pictures of mourning.
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Interactive Attacks Map Details on the insurgency and terrorism that has continued to take lives since the fall of Saddam.
Insurgents, meanwhile, killed an American soldier and a Marine in separate attacks over the weekend, while a British soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in the south.
In Washington, a U.S. official said the identities of the terror suspects killed in the Saturday raid was unknown. Asked if they could include al-Zarqawi, the official replied: "There are efforts under way to determine if he was killed."
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.
CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports there is no hard forensic evidence to confirm al-Zaraqwi's death. The claim has been made on Web sites out of the Middle East, but those sites have been wrong before, he says.
Martin reports that once the Mosul house was surrounded, insurgents blew themselves up, filling the house with body parts and charred flesh. U.S. troops have taken the flesh and blood samples to complete DNA tests to identify who was killed in the building (video).
On Saturday, police Brig. Gen. Said Ahmed al-Jubouri said the raid was launched after a tip that top al Qaeda operatives, possibly including al-Zarqawi, were in the house in the northeastern part of the city.
During the intense gunbattle that followed, three insurgents detonated explosives and killed themselves to avoid capture, Iraqi officials said. Eleven Americans were wounded, the U.S. military said. Such intense resistance often suggests an attempt to defend a high-value target.
American soldiers controlled the site Sunday, and residents said helicopters flew over the area throughout the day. Some residents said the tight security was reminiscent of the July 2003 operation in which Saddam Hussein's sons, Odai and Qusai, were killed in Mosul.
In other developments:
The "special voting" will take place on Dec. 12, Farid Ayar said. The rest of the country will vote on Dec. 15 for legislators who will serve for four years, he said.
The Pentagon has said it plans to scale back troop strength to its pre-election baseline of 138,000, depending on conditions. Rumsfeld said the U.S.-led coalition continues to make progress in training Iraqi security forces, which he placed at 212,000.
Rumsfeld also said talk in the United States of a quick withdrawal from Iraq plays into the hands of the insurgents.
©MMV CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
