al-Zarqawi Dead? Al Qaeda Terrorist Perhaps Killed in Firefight

(Update I) US officials announced Sunday that efforts were under way to determine if terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is dead.  Earlier reports speculated that Al Qaeda's number one man in Iraq may have been killed when eight terrorists blew themselves up in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

Dead or Alive?

The AP reports that U.S. forces have sealed off a house in the northern city of Mosul where eight suspected al-Qaeda members died in a gunfight. 

There is speculation that some died by their own hand to avoid capture by blowing themselves up.

AP:

American soldiers maintained control of the site, imposing extraordinary security measures, a day after a fierce gunbattle that broke out when Iraqi police and U.S. soldiers surrounded a house after reports that al-Qaida in Iraq members were inside.

Three insurgents detonated explosives and killed themselves to avoid capture, Iraqi officials said. Eleven Americans were wounded, the U.S. military said.

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There is still no official government statement on the accuracy of the report of the death of Al Qaeda's number one terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, but this AP report lends a bit more clarity as to the fact that US forces are investigating.

--Josh Hart