Published 18:54 IST, October 27th 2019
ISIS chief al Baghdadi ignited vest, spent last moments in fear: Trump
US President Donald Trump announced that the leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was killed in a US operation in northwestern Syria on Saturday.
US President Donald Trump on Sunday confirmed the killing of ISIS founder & leader and wanted terrorist Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Trump, in an address from the White House, thanked a number of other nations - Russia, Turkey, Syria, Iraq and the Syrian Kurds - for their support. He mentioned that no military personnel involved in the operation lost their lives, though an attack dog from the canine squad was hurt, and said that they were the 'best' in the world.
The operation
Donald Trump, in the address, described the operation that killed the ISIS leader in detail. He said that the US had been searching for Baghdadi for years and the capturing and killing of the terrorist had been the 'top National priority' of his administration. Trump said that it was a night-time operation, in northwestern Syria.
He described, "the US Personnel were incredible, I got to watch much of it. No personnel was lost in the operation while a large number of Baghdadi's companions and fighters were killed with him. He died after running into a dead-end tunnel, whimpering, crying and screaming all the way. The compound had been cleared with people either surrendering or being shot and killed. Eleven young children were moved out of the house and were uninjured. The only ones remaining were Baghdadi in the tunnel and he had dragged three of his young children and were led to certain death. He reached the end of the tunnel as our dogs chased him down. He ignited his vest (suicide vest), killing himself and the three children. His body was mutilated by the blast and the tunnel had caved in. But test results gave certain immediate and positive confirmation, it was him. The thug who tried so hard to intimidate others, spent his last moments in utter fear and in total panic and dread, terrified of the American forces bearing down on him."
Trump added that the joint forces were in the compound for approximately two hours and after the mission was completed, the forces managed to take highly sensitive information about ISIS, the information which US "very much wanted". the information was about the ISIS, and it's future plans and operations. Trump thanked the intelligence officers who '"helped making the operation possible" and also thanked the sailors, soldiers and marines involved in the operation.
The reports about the raid started filtering on Saturday evening and were repeated by various White House correspondents of American news organizations. US President Trump himself tweeted that 'something big had happened' on Saturday evening and the White House later said that he will be making an address on Sunday morning. Trump added that Baghdadi was under close surveillance for a 'couple of weeks' but they could not finalize the attack because Baghdadi had plans to go to move, which he later canceled. However, after receiving specific information on his location, the forces went ahead with the operation.
Al-Baghdadi had led IS for the last five years, presiding over its ascendancy as it cultivated a reputation for beheadings and attracted hundreds of thousands of followers to a sprawling and self-styled caliphate in Iraq and Syria. He remained among the few IS commanders still at large despite multiple claims in recent years about his death and even as his so-called caliphate dramatically shrank, with many supporters who joined the cause either imprisoned or jailed. His exhortations were instrumental in inspiring terrorist attacks in the heart of Europe and in the United States. Shifting away from the airline hijackings and other mass-casualty attacks that came to define al-Qaeda, al-Baghdadi and other IS leaders supported smaller-scale acts of violence that would be harder for law enforcement to prepare for and prevent.
Updated 19:52 IST, October 27th 2019