President Donald Trump has confirmed the killing of fugitive
Islamic State leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi by U.S. special forces in a raid in
northwest Syria.
Speaking to newsmen at the White House on Sunday morning,
Trump said Baghdadi killed himself by detonating his suicide vest during the
operation on Saturday night.
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According to him, test results on the remains of those
killed positively identified Baghdadi, who before now was the world’s most
wanted terrorist.
The president, who said no American was killed in the
operation, lauded the bravery of the men and women of U.S. forces.
Trump said Baghdadi’s three children and many other
terrorists also died in the raid, adding that the accurate figure of those
killed would be released in the next 24 hours.
“He was a sick and depraved man and now he’s gone.
“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.
“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 said.
Until his death, Baghdadi was the head of ISIS which at one
point controlled large areas of Syria and Iraq, declaring a caliphate,
according to Reuters.
The jihadist group has carried out atrocities against
religious minorities and attacks on five continents in the name of a version of
an ultra-fanatic Islam that horrified mainstream Muslims, the news agency
reported.
Baghdadi came to prominence in 2014, when he announced the
creation of a “caliphate” in areas of Iraq and Syria, says the BBC.
The U.S. declared the “caliphate” defeated earlier this
year, and had long placed Baghdadi on its wanted list.
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