BAGHDAD, Sept 27: US and Iraqi forces said on Tuesday they had shot dead the second-in-command of al Qaeda in Iraq and the American military called the operation a serious blow to the militant group at the heart of Iraq’s insurgency.

Al Qaeda in Iraq said it was not yet sure if Abu Azzam died in a clash with US forces in Baghdad, and denied he was Zarqawi’s deputy.

“The holy warrior Abu Azzam al-Iraqi is an Al Qaeda soldier who heads one of Al Qaeda’s units operating in Baghdad ... it has not been confirmed to us yet if he died,” said a statement on an Islamist web site often used by Al Qaeda in Iraq.

The Qaeda statement, whose authenticity could not be verified, mocked the claim that Abu Azzam was second to Zarqawi.

“In their latest desperate statement, they announce the killing of ‘the second man’ in Al Qaeda in Iraq. We say, give it up — your lies will not help you,” it said.

The US military said Abu Azzam’s death was a setback for the two-year-old insurgency, identifying the Iraqi militant as a key player behind a surge in violence in Baghdad since April that has killed and maimed hundreds.

Iraqi police said on Tuesday they also found 22 bodies of shooting victims near the town of Kut, southeast of Baghdad. —Reuters