WASHINGTON – United States (US) President Donald Trump announced that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi killed himself during a daring overnight raid by elite US special operations forces in Syria.
Baghdadi died alongside three of his children by detonating an explosives-laden vest when he fled US forces into a dead-end tunnel during the attack, which took place in the Idlib region in northwest Syria, Trump said on Sunday.
“Last night the United States brought the world’s No. 1 terrorist leader to justice,” Trump added.
Under Iraqi-born Baghdadi’s rule, Islamic State – which at one point controlled swathes of Syria and Iraq – was responsible for gruesome attacks against religious minorities and five continents in the name of a form of ultra-fanatical Islam.
Russia opened up its airspace for the raid and Kurdish allies gave some helpful information, according to Trump, who watched the operation unfold with Vice President Mike Pence and others.(Reuters)
