Published 07:48 IST, October 28th 2019
Doubts raised by Russia over Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's "umpteenth death"
Russia raised doubts on Sunday over the "umpteenth death" of Islamic State group leader Baghdadi, who has been reported killed several times since 2014
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Russia raised doubts on Sunday over the "umpteenth death" of Islamic State group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who has been reported killed several times since 2014. "The Defence Ministry does not have reliable information about the actions of the US army in the Idlib 'de-escalation' zone... concerning the umpteenth 'death' of Baghdadi," Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement. The United States President Donald Trump announced that Baghdadi had been killed in a nighttime US raid deep inside northwestern Syria.
It felt as if he was watching a movie
Trump on Sunday announced in a media briefing that the US forces carried out an operation in the north-west Syrian region of Idlib to kill ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. While addressing the media, the US President said that he was there himself in the situation room watching the operation live and that it felt as if he was watching a movie. Trump also confirmed that no military personnel involved in the operation lost their lives, though an attack dog from the canine squad was hurt. He also said that they were the 'best' in the world. Trump further added that, "We watched it so clearly. I don't want to say how I watched it but it was perfect as though you were watching a movie. The technology there alone is great. A big danger part of the mission was that it was an hour and 10-minute long flight and we were flying over very very dangerous territory. In fact, some of our leaders said that it could be one of the most dangerous zones of flying in and flying out and that is why we kept so quiet last night."
Details about the operation
Detailing about the operation, Trump said that al-Baghdadi was in a room with 11 children. He said that the operation began at 5'o clock and lift-off started 'moments after that'. He then added that the world's most dangerous terrorist died "like a coward". He said that Baghdadi died at the end of the tunnel as the US Forces attack dogs chased him. According to the US President, Baghdadi blew himself up with 3 children after which his tunnel caved in.
(INPUTS FROM PTI)
03:26 IST, October 28th 2019