Trump Confirms al-Baghdadi, ISIS Leader, Dead

• Donald Trump reports that U.S. forces executed a "dangerous and daring" raid on Baghdadi's Syrian safehouse.
• Trump says the U.S. mission took place in northwestern Syria and that it lasted for about two hours.
• As the leader of the Islamic State terror group, Iraqi national Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was the world’s most wanted man.

The leader of the terrorist group, Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead. U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed this at a press conference Sunday morning. “Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead,” the president said.

Donald Trump reports that U.S. forces executed a “dangerous and daring” raid on Baghdadi’s Syrian safehouse. Baghdadi killed himself, as well as three of his children, by detonating a suicide vest as U.S. forces closed in. The ISIS leader died “running into a dead-end tunnel, whimpering and crying and screaming all the way,” Trump told news reporters. He said special operations forces “accomplished their mission in grand style.”

“He died like a dog,” Trump said. “He died like a coward. The world is now a much safer place.” Trump added, “he was a sick and depraved man, and now he’s gone.” Trump also said that “today’s event shows that we will continue to smash Islamic State and other terrorist organizations.”

No Wounded Americans

Donald Trump says the U.S. mission took place in northwestern Syria and that it lasted for about two hours. In addition to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and his three children, there were a number of ISIS fighters present in the house where the ISIS leader was hiding. The Trump administration is set to give a detailed report within the next 24 hours how many ISIS fighters were killed in the attack.

Trump says he followed the attack live on the screen alongside his Vice President, Mike Pence. No Americans were killed in the operation, although President Trump said one of the military dogs was injured.

Rumors Since Last Night

Rumors of al-Baghdadi’s death have been abuzz since Saturday night, with several media worldwide relaying the news and naming anonymous sources from both the United States and Syria. The leader of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) rebel group, Mazloum Abdi, wrote on Twitter that over the past five months, the SDF has participated in a joint operation to eliminate Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. “For five months, there has been joint intel cooperation on the ground and accurate monitoring, until we achieved a joint operation to kill Abu Bakir al-Bagdadi.” Thanks to everybody who participated in this great mission, Mazloum Abdi tweeted.

Most Wanted Man

As the leader of the Islamic State terror group, Iraqi national Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was the world’s most wanted man. Baghdadi has had a long career as a militant Islamist. In 2005, he swore allegiance to al-Qaeda’s leader in Iraq, but around 2013 he broke with the terrorist movement and changed the name of his own group to Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.
The group’s goal was to create a state— or caliphate— in Iraq and Syria, and for several years the group controlled a large tract of land in the two countries. Both during and after the heyday of the Islamic State, Baghdadi was known for taking extreme security measures.