U.S. General Confirms Saddam's Sons Killed

B A G H D A D, Iraq, July 22 -- Saddam Hussein's sons Odai and Qusai Hussein were among four Iraqis killed in a raid in the northern city of Mosul, the senior U.S. commander in Iraq confirmed today.

"We're certain that Odai and Qusai were killed," Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez told a news conference. "They died in a fierce gunbattle."

Sanchez said the sons were located at a Mosul villa through a "walk-in" tip received Monday night. When U.S. troops were sent to investigate the building, they were met with small-arms fire.

The "suspects barricaded themselves in the house" and "resisted fiercely," Sanchez said.

A six-hour operation that involved various military units on the ground and in the air ensued. Among the participants were soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division and Task Force 20, a secret special forces team charged with hunting down members of the former regime, officials told ABCNEWS.

Sanchez said despite the intensity of the battle, "the bodies were in such a condition where you could identify them." The U.S. military was still working to identify two other bodies, he said.

U.S. officials believe the remaining bodies are those of Qusai Hussein's teenage son and a bodyguard.

Four coalition soldiers were wounded in the operation and were being treated, Sanchez said.

Sanchez planned to give a detailed briefing on the operation Wednesday at 8 a.m. ET.

But Where Is Saddam?

There was speculation the deaths of Saddam's sons could lead to information on the whereabouts of the former Iraqi dictator himself.

No one in Saddam's regime was closer to him than his two sons, and there is speculation that if anyone knows where he is, they would.

Sanchez said U.S. forces were "continuing to exploit the site and everything that we captured in that raid."

When asked whether the two $15 million rewards for information leading to the arrest of Saddam's sons would be given out to the informant, Sanchez said he expected "it probably will happen." Saddam Hussein has a $25 million reward on his head.