Suspected al-Qa'ida militants

Another Indo article tells us according to a US army spokesperson, "22 suspected al-Qa'ida militants were killed in the early hours of fighting". What does that mean? Obviously it means 22 people are dead but if that was all it meant then they would just say "22 people". Of course it doesn't really mean much more than that, there's no way to know if they were on a list of suspects who were being hunted or whether they are became "suspects" right around they time they were shot. The meaning is not at all clear. The implication however is quite clear - they were bad-guys and they had it coming. In fact it's kind of surprising that they even used the word "suspected". They wouldn't say that if they had any evidence at all.

So there they are, 22 dead people who's entry in the history books will be "suspected al-Qa'ida militant".