Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki and US officials say two leaders of al-Qaeda in Iraq have been killed in a joint Iraqi-US operation.
Mr Maliki said on national TV that the Iraqi al-Qaeda leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, who led an affiliate group, were dead.
US Vice-President Joe Biden said their deaths were “potentially devastating blows” to al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Mr Maliki said both had been killed in Salaheddin province, west of Baghdad.
Iraqi TV showed pictures of both men before and after their deaths.
When the Americans killed the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, in 2006, it was described as a massive blow to the insurgency. Yet it raged on unabated.
Only a switch of tactics by the Americans the following year, and other developments, reduced it to its current low levels.
Assuming the announcement is correct, it has taken four years to track down and kill Zarqawi’s successor, known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir or Abu Ayyub al-Masri.
Leaders are clearly important, and eliminating them can have an effect in compounding the decline or hampering the growth of an adversary.
But – as Zarqawi’s death showed – it is not enough on its own.
However, the insurgency has been sharply curbed in the past two years. The death of the two leaders, if confirmed, could help accelerate the downward trend.
“The attack was carried out by ground forces which surrounded the house, and also through the use of missiles,” Mr Maliki said.