Mission Chronology
Mission 75: The Death of al-Zarqawi

• The captures and killings of several top al-Qaeda lieutenants, beginning with a cell leader in Yusufiyah, Jordan on April 6, brings critical intelligence about al-Zarqawi’s movements in Iraq.


• In May, Jordanian intelligence officers capture one of al-Zarqawi's mid-level operatives near the Iraqi border. Employed by the Iraqi government as a customs clearance officer, the operative claims he is Ziad Khalaf al-Kerbouly, and says in a statement broadcast by Jordanian television on May 23 that he used his position to help al-Zarqawi smuggle cash and materiel for the insurgency.


• Under questioning, Kerbouly tells Jordanian interrogators something that they do not broadcast: the identity and contacts for al-Zarqawi's new “spiritual adviser,” Sheik Abdel Rahman.


• Task Force 77 locates Abdel Rahman and keeps him under surveillance, following his movements by an aerial drone, resident reports, and informers inside al-Zarqawi's inner circle.


• U.S. intelligence confirms that al-Zarqawi is to meet Rahman in Hibhib, north of Baghdad, at a safe house on Wednesday, June 7.


• Fewer than half a dozen members of a U.S. reconnaissance and surveillance team from Delta Force’s B Squadron and a handful of Iraqi security personnel hide in a grove of date and palm trees, watching the building to get “eyes on” the house. A Predator unmanned aerial vehicle roams quietly overhead.


• When Delta team sees one group come into the house and two men in a motor vehicle exit, US forces fear al-Zarqawi might be next to exit. Verifying there are no friendly forces in the area, the recon unit's leader radios his superiors to request an air strike. (An aerial bombing ensures no collateral damage and no chance of escape and, according to other sources; there were an insufficient number of special ops forces on hand to storm the building.)


• Two F-16C jets on routine patrol are given coordinates of the safe house and told a “high-value target” is inside. One of the jets is refueling in mid-air, but the lead aircraft quickly identifies the target and lases it. It strikes the safe house at 6:12 p.m. with a laser-guided GBU-12, 500-pound precision bomb. He then circles the target area and determines a second strike is in order. 96 seconds later, the same pilot drops a satellite-guided GBU-38, 500-pound precision bomb on the safe house.


• Iraqi police arrive on the scene. Dead are three women, an unidentified man, and Sheik Abdel Rahman, and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, still alive and muttering. They place him on a stretcher.


• 28 minutes later US troops from the 4th Infantry Division arrive and a special-ops exploitation team arrives with photos, fingerprint smudges and descriptions of the scars and tattoos on al-Zarqawi’s body. As they begin to identify him, al-Zarqawi tries to turn away off the stretcher. At the same time, a US medic attempts to provide medical care for al-Zarqawi. Approximately 20 minutes later, al-Zarqawi is dead. The time is 7:04 p.m.


• Visible across the rubble is a pair of thin foam mattresses, a small carton of pineapple juice with its straw still intact, a piece of red Persian-type rug, and a woman’s leopard-print nightgown.


• American special operators carry out 17 more raids across Iraq.


• At 6:30 a.m. the following morning, combat engineers begin excavating the site, though they don’t yet know who the target of the attack was. They recover a couple of MP3 audio recorders, a heavily damaged laptop computer, notebooks, floppy disks, a few cassette tapes and old Qurans. Also reportedly found are two AK-47 assault rifles, 30-45 rounds of ammunition, magazine clips, an M-16 rifle, and a vest containing six fragmentation grenades.


• Examination of fingerprints, known scars and tattoos and a positive DNA match confirm al-Zarqawi's identification. His face is described as “very, very bloodied,” and the military decides to clean him up for photographs that will be shown publicly.


• Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announces on Thursday that “Zarqawi has been terminated” at a joint press conference with Gen. George Casey, the US commander in Iraq. The announcement is broadcast live on a giant screen in Baghdad, where the crowd engages in triumphant cheering.


• As the world learns about the death of al-Zarqawi, 39 more raids are carried out across the country. Coalition forces round up at least 25 Qaeda suspects across Iraq, and a military spokesman proclaims the busts have resulted in a "treasure trove" of information about al Qaeda in Iraq.


• Since al-Zarqawi's death, US and Iraqi forces have conducted 452 raids and killed 104 insurgents