Following the air strike that killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi yesterday, U.S. and coalition forces have conducted a number of raids against al-Qaida.

U.S. troops conducted nearly 40 raids Friday in Iraq, taking advantage of information gleaned from searches following Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s death, a military spokesman said, also revealing new information about the man believed poised to take the terror leader’s place.

[...]

Hours after the bombing, U.S. troops carried out 17 simultaneous raids Wednesday near Baqouba, the capital of Diyala province. The region is in the heartland of the Sunni Arab-led insurgency and has seen a recent rise in sectarian violence. Baqouba is 35 miles northeast of Baghdad.

Those raids provided the information leading to the searches overnight Thursday.

In the 39 raids, troops “picked up things like memory sticks, some hard drives” that would allow American forces to begin dismantling al-Zarqawi’s al-Qaida in Iraq, Caldwell told the British Broadcasting Corp.

He said the latest information was helping U.S. forces unravel the source of al-Qaida’s weapons and financing.

This has the potential of being very good news, providing intelligence that will aid efforts to root out the terrorists. In addition, the information on their weapons and financing will cause serious disruptions in their activities.

Make no mistake, this will not end their efforts. But it is a great victory.