Deserving end of ‘Leader of Brutality’: US military forces raid compels ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to ‘blow himself’

News Bharati    28-Oct-2019
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Washington, October 28: Daring, impressive and appreciating conduct of the United States force two-hour night time raid compelled ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to blow himself in northern Syria. Announcing it to the world, President Donald Trump, in a television address at the White House said that the "world's number one terrorist leader" is dead.

 

Giving out details of the mission, President Donald Trump said, “Last night was a great night for the United States and for the world. A brutal killer, one who has caused so much hardship and death, has violently been eliminated.” The covert operation started around 5 p.m. on Saturday evening as eight helicopters carrying teams of elite US troops, including Delta Force operators, flew exactly one hour and ten minutes over "very, very dangerous territory" towards the compound, according to Trump. Numerous other US aircraft and ships were also involved in the mission. While in transit, the helicopters were met with local gunfire. US aircraft returned fire and eliminated the threat, Trump said.

 

While clearing the compound, US forces killed a "large number" of ISIS fighters during a gun battle without suffering casualties. At least two ISIS fighters were captured and 11 children were taken into custody. Two of Baghdadi's wives were killed during the operation and their suicide vests remained unexploded.

Ultimately Baghdadi, who was also wearing a suicide vest, took refuge in a "dead end" tunnel with three children. He reached the end of the tunnel, as our dogs chased him down. He ignited his vest, killing himself and the three children. His body was mutilated by the blast. The tunnel had caved in on it in addition, Trump said. The President also said US forces obtained "highly sensitive material and information from the raid, much having to do with ISIS origins, future plans, things that we very much want."

While the military operation took place over the course of just two hours Saturday night, Baghdadi had been under surveillance for a couple of weeks, Trump told reporters, adding that two to three planned missions were scrapped before the successful one was launched. Mazloum Abdi, the commander in chief of the Kurdish forces in Syria, said in a tweet the intelligence operations that led to the US military raid in Syria that killed Baghdadi began five months ago.

The CIA ultimately located Baghdadi and shared that intelligence with the Department of Defense. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence were notified about Baghdadi's possible location "earlier in the week" and told Thursday that there was a high probability he was in the compound. That is when the President ordered military commanders to begin drawing up specific options, which were presented on Friday.

Baghdadi's death marks the end of a years-long hunt to find one of the most wanted terrorists in the world and the man who declared a so-called Islamic caliphate in Iraq and Syria in 2014. It was the most significant announcement of the death of a terror leader since President Barack Obama revealed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had been killed by US Navy Seals in a dramatic late night address in May 2011.