WASHINGTON, Oct 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President Donald Trump said that elusive Daesh leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed, dying “like a dog,” in a daring, nighttime raid by US special forces deep in northwest Syria.
Trump told the nation in a televised address from the White House that US forces killed a “large number” of Daesh militants during the raid which culminated in cornering Baghdadi in a tunnel, where he set off a suicide vest.
“He ignited his vest, killing himself,” Trump said.
“He died after running into a dead end tunnel, whimpering and crying and screaming all the way,” Trump said, adding that three of Baghdadi’s children also died in the blast.
Trump said that the raid — which required flying more than an hour by helicopter in both directions from an undisclosed base — had been accomplished by help from Russia, Syria, Turkey and Iraq.
Special forces “executed a dangerous and daring nightime raid in northwestern Syria and accomplished their mission in grand style.”
The death of Baghdadi comes as a big boost for Trump, whose abrupt decision to withdraw a small but effective deployment of US forces from Syria caused fears that it would give Daesh remnants and sleeper cells a chance to regroup.
Trump took a storm of criticism, including from his own usually loyal Republican Party.
A war monitor said US helicopters dropped forces in an area of Syria’s Idlib province where “groups linked to the Daesg group” were present.
The helicopters targeted a home and a car outside the village of Barisha in Idlib province, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is based in Britain but relies on a network of sources inside Syria for its information.
The operation killed nine people including a Daesh leader called Abu Yamaan as well as a child and two women, it said.
Turkey, which has been waging an offensive against the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeast Syria in recent weeks, had “advance knowledge” about the raid, a senior Turkish official said.
The commander-in-chief of the SDF, who have been fighting IS in Syria, said the operation came after “joint intelligence work” with American forces.
Trump also said that Iraq had been “very good” over the raid.
He said no US soldiers were wounded, despite “doing a lot of shooting” and “a lot of blasting.” The only US casualty was a military dog in the tunnel with the trapped Daesh leader.
Long pursued by the US-led coalition against Daesh, Baghdadi has been erroneously reported dead several times in recent years.
The US State Department had posted a $25 million reward for information on his whereabouts. — NNN-AGENCIES
