MASSIVE: 'ISIS chief Baghdadi killed in US operation,' announces Trump

Making the "big" announcement on Sunday evening, the United States President Donald Trump confirmed that ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been killed. Addressing a press conference, Trump said that US forces carried out an operation in the north-west Syrian region of Idlib to kill ISIS chief Baghdadi. He said that Baghdadi had been under US intelligence surveillance for 'a couple of weeks'. Trump said that the United States lost no soldier in the operation and claimed that many ISIS men and Baghdadi's aides were killed in 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 immolated himself with 3 children after which his cave was bombed. 

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"Last night, the United States brought the world’s number 1 terrorist leader to justice Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi. He died in his compound in a tunnel whimpering crying and screaming. Last night was a great night for the United States and for the world. We will continue to pursue ISIS terrorists to their brutal end. ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi was a depraved and sick man. Now he's gone. He died a coward, running and crying. We had him (Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi) under surveillance for a couple of weeks. The operation against Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi involved eight helicopters and a large group of fighters," Trump said.

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Who is Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi?

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, reportedly born in the Iraqi city of Samarra in 1971. He joined Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) and rose to high ranks after the faction broke away to form ISIS. He then declared himself the Caliph of the old Caliphate from the Al -Nuri mosque in Mosul in 2014. After taking the leadership, al-Baghdadi captured major parts of Syria after a civil war broke in the country in the aftermath of the Arab Spring in 2010. In April this year, another video was released in which he was seen in the public first time after declaring the caliphate. In the propaganda video, Al Baghdadi was seen sitting cross-legged alongside Kalashnikov. He then spoke for 18 minutes in the video and said that their battle is a long one. He had also praised the Easter bombing terror attack in Sri Lanka that killed 250 people. 

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Donald Trump's tweet on Sunday morning

In the early hours of Sunday, United States President Donald Trump took to Twitter to announce that he will break big news later in the day. While speculation remained high, some US media reports and international reports said that it may be the news of the killing of ISIS chief Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi. Reports also suggested that the US army held an operation along with Syrian Kurd forces to eliminate the ISIS chief. 

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