ISIS Leader Reportedly Killed by U.S. Special Forces
October 26th, 2019Update: Russian Defense Ministry: We Are Unaware of Alleged Assistance in Baghdadi Operation
Via: Reuters:
Russian Ministry of Defense said on Sunday it was not aware of any assistance that Russia had allegedly provided to the U.S. air forces in the operation that targeted Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, state-run RIA news agency reported.
“We are unaware of any alleged assistance to the flying of U.S. aviation into the airspace of the Idlib de-escalation zone during this operation,” Major-General Igor Konashenkov was quoted by RIA as saying.
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Via: Newsweek:
The United States military has conducted a special operations raid targeting one of its most high-value targets, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State militant group (ISIS), Newsweek has learned. President Donald Trump approved the mission nearly a week before it took place.
Amid reports Saturday of U.S. military helicopters over the Syria’s northwestern Idlib province, a senior Pentagon official familiar with the operation and Army official briefed on the matter told Newsweek that Baghdadi was the target of the top-secret operation in the last bastion of the country’s Islamist-dominated opposition, a faction that has clashed with ISIS in recent years.
A U.S. Army official briefed on the results of the operation told Newsweek that Baghdadi was killed in the raid, and the Defense Department told the White House they have “high confidence” that the high-value target killed was Baghdadi, but further verification is pending DNA and biometric testing. The senior Pentagon official said there was a brief firefight when U.S. forces entered the compound in Idlib’s Barisha village and that Baghdadi then killed himself by detonating a suicide vest. Family members were present. According to Pentagon sources, no children were harmed in the raid but two Baghdadi wives were killed after detonating their own explosive vests.
Members of the Joint Special Operations Command’s Delta Team carried out Saturday’s high-level operation after receiving actionable intelligence, according to sources familiar with the operation. The location raided by special operations troops had been under surveillance for some time.
