Washington - Fugitive Islamic State leader
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi died "whimpering and crying" in a raid by US special forces in northwest Syria, President Donald Trump
announced on Sunday, in what he called a major victory over the
jihadist group.
Baghdadi killed himself during the raid by detonating a
suicide vest after fleeing into a dead-end tunnel, Trump said in
a televised address from the White House.
He was positively identified by DNA tests 15 minutes after
he died, the president said.
"He was a sick and depraved man and now he's gone," said
Trump, adding that capturing or killing Baghdadi had been the
top national security priority for his administration.
The death of Baghdadi is a severe blow to Islamic State,
which has been in disarray and has no declared successor as
leader yet. But the group has in the past proved resilient,
continuing to mount or inspire attacks in the region and beyond
despite losing most of its territory in recent years.
Trump said "many" of Baghdadi's people were killed in the
raid and added that in blowing himself up, Baghdadi also killed
three of his children.
U.S. forces suffered no personnel losses, he said. He also
thanked Russia, Turkey, Syria and Iraq for their support.
Turkey said it was proud to have helped "bring a notorious
terrorist to justice" and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu congratulated Trump on an "impressive achievement".
President Donald Trump speaks in the Diplomatic Room of the White House in Washington, to announce that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been killed during a US raid in Syria. Picture:Andrew Harnik/AP
But Russia's response was muted, with the defence ministry
in Moscow saying merely that it had no reliable information on
the US raid.
Baghdadi had long been sought by the United States as head
of a jihadist group that at one point controlled large areas of
Syria and Iraq, where it declared a caliphate. Islamic State has
carried out atrocities against religious minorities and attacks
on five continents in the name of an ultra-fanatic version of
Islam that horrified mainstream Muslims.
"The thug who tried so hard to intimidate others spent his
last moments in utter fear, panic and dread, terrified of the
American forces coming down on him," Trump said.
"He reached the end of the tunnel as our dogs chased him
down. He ignited his vest, killing himself and his three
children. His body was mutilated by the blasts. The tunnel had
caved on him," Trump added.
"He died ... whimpering and crying and screaming."
In the hours before Trump's announcement, sources in the
region had described the raid on a compound in the village of
Barisha, in Idlib province bordering Turkey, in the early hours
of Sunday.
"We woke up to the sound of planes, we went out and saw
(forces) in front of us carrying weapons. 'Get on the ground,
get on the ground!' (they said) so we went down," one local
resident told Reuters TV.
"They handcuffed us and put us to the side. (They
asked) 'How do you know this man?' We said we don't know him, we
would see people coming and going but we never interacted with
them. So they said, 'you are safe, stay to the side'."
People look at a destroyed houses near the village of Barisha, in Idlib province, Syria, after an operation by the U.S. military which targeted Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the shadowy leader of the Islamic State group. Picture: Ghaith Alsayed/AP
Iraqi state television broadcast night-time footage of an
explosion and daytime images of a crater in the ground and what
it said was the aftermath of the raid, including torn and
blood-stained clothes.
Iraq's military said later in a statement that its
intelligence services had located Baghdadi's whereabouts and had
passed the information to the United States.
Trump said eight helicopters carried the U.S. special forces
troops to the compound where Baghdadi was hiding, where they
were met with gunfire before blasting their way in through the
walls to avoid a booby-trapped main door.
The U.S. forces spent around two hours in the compound, he
said, adding that they had taken away "sensitive information"
relating to Islamic State.
Russia "treated us great" by opening up airspace it
controlled for the raid and Kurdish allies gave some helpful
information, according to Trump. The Russian defence ministry,
however, said it was not aware of any assistance to U.S. forces.
The president said he watched the operation unfold in the
Situation Room of the White House, with Vice President Mike
Pence, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and the joint military
chiefs. He added that Russia had not been aware of the nature of
the U.S. mission.
WITHDRAWAL CRITICISED
Trump had faced withering criticism from fellow Republicans
and Democrats for announcing a withdrawal of U.S. troops from
northeastern Syria earlier this month, which permitted Turkey to
attack America's Kurdish allies as it sought to set up a "safe
zone".
Trump said the raid would not change his decision to
withdraw troops from Syria.
Many critics of the pullout have expressed concern both at
the abandoning of the Kurdish forces who had been instrumental
in defeating Islamic State in Syria, and that the move might
allow the group to regain strength and pose a threat to U.S.
interests.
The successful targeting of Baghdadi in the raid could help
blunt those concerns, as well as boosting Trump domestically at
a time when he is facing an impeachment inquiry in the U.S.
House of Representatives.
RELIEF FOR A GRIEVING FATHER
At the height of its power, Islamic State ruled over
millions of people in territory running from northern Syria
through towns and villages along the Tigris and Euphrates
valleys to the outskirts of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.
Thousands of civilians were killed by the group as it
mounted what the United Nations called a genocidal campaign
against Iraq's Yazidi minority. It also caused worldwide
revulsion by beheading foreign nationals from countries
including the United States, Britain and Japan.
In one notorious incident, referred to by Trump in his TV
address, a captured Jordanian air force pilot was burned alive
in a cage.
On Sunday the pilot's father, Safi Al-Kasaesbeh, told
Reuters TV he was relieved by news of Baghdadi's death.
"I am proud and happy on this day, after hearing of the
death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, this corrupt man, this insect,
this virus that spread throughout the body of not only the Arab
nation but also the Muslim nation, who distorted the image of
Muslims and Islam," he said.
The group has claimed responsibility for or inspired attacks
in dozens of cities including Paris, Nice, Orlando, Manchester,
London and Berlin, and in nearby Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia and
Egypt.
But in 2017 Islamic State lost control of Mosul in Iraq and
Raqqa in Syria, and quickly thereafter almost all of its
territory, turning Baghdadi into a fugitive.
During a three-year push by a U.S.-led coalition, air
strikes killed most of his top lieutenants and there were
conflicting reports over whether Baghdadi was alive until IS
published a video message by him in April.