The United States has carried out an operation targeting Islamic State (ISIS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The elusive ISIS chief-terrorist Baghdadi is believed to have been killed during the raid conducted by the US military in northwest Syria on Saturday.
According to the reports, a senior US defence official stated that the Islamic State leader was targetted in Syria’s Idlib province. Another source said that the final confirmation is pending while DNA and biometric testing is conducted.
The Reuters reported that US officials confirmed that the operation took place but did not disclose details. However, the defence officials said it appears that Baghdadi detonated a suicide vest during the raid.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump is expected to make a “major statement” at the White House at 9 AM (EST). Earlier, Trump had tweeted, “Something very big has just happened!”
Something very big has just happened!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 27, 2019
Abu Bakr Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State terror group, has been in hiding for the last five years. In April, a video was released by the ISIS media wing al-Furqan that showed a man purporting to be Baghdadi. It was the first time Baghdadi has been seen since July 2014, when he spoke at the Great Mosque in Mosul.
In February 2018, several US officials said Baghdadi had been wounded in an airstrike in May 2017 and had to relinquish control of the terror group for up to five months because of his injuries.
Baghdadi became the leader of ISIS in 2010. In 2013, ISI declared its absorption of an al Qaeda-backed militant group in Syria and Baghdadi said that his group will now be known as Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS).
