Video captures moment Isis leader ‘detonates suicide vest during US raid’

This is the dramatic moment Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is believed to have died during an overnight bombing in north-west Syria.

President Donald Trump has confirmed the terrorist leader was killed during the operation. 

Today it has been reported that the Isis leader detonated a suicide vest after being cornered by US special forces during the strike.

According to reports from US media, al-Baghdadi was killed during the mission which was ordered by President Trump.

US-led forces in Idlib, Syria, swarmed the Islamic State leader’s lair in the early hours of this morning following intelligence the terrorist arrived at the site 48 hours beforehand.

During the ensuing firefight his two wives were also killed, with no reports of any injuries to US forces.

After the airstrike, President Trump tweeted: ‘Something very big has just happened!’ but provided no more information.

During a White House press conference at 1pm today Mr Trump confirmed the killing.

Footage of the raid has since emerged which claims to show the moment the terrorist is believed to have been killed.

The clip, released by Syrian activists, captures a series of deafening explosions followed by an eerie silence.

The Isis leader had been one of the most wanted figures in the world since 2014 when he issued a sinister call to arms declaring an Islamic ‘caliphate’.

Under his rule he encouraged jihadists to engage in smaller-scale acts of terrorism which would be much harder for law enforcement to prepare against.

These instructions resulted in numerous attacks across the UK and Europe, including the Manchester Arena bombing which claimed the lives of 23 people.

CNN reports al-Baghdadi’s messages encouraged more than 140 terrorist attacks in 29 countries, excluding Iraq and Syria, killing at least 2,043 people.

In recent years the leader had been far less visible due to a £19.5 million bounty on his head.

However last month he released an audio recording calling on his followers to do all they could to free Isis detainees and women from the terrorist group being held in jails.

The Isis leader has been wrongly reported to be dead on previous occasions.

If his death is confirmed, it will be seen as a win for Mr Trump in his upcoming election campaign but an Islamic group expert has questioned how much of an impact the killing will have long-term.

Marwan Shihadah, specialist and researcher of Islamic groups, told Reuters: ‘Following the nature of these groups, they do not very much get affected by the loss of any first level leader.

‘There is no doubt it will affect some of the segments of this group. It is also considered a victory for the U.S president Trump in terms of the coming elections.’

He added: ‘It seems that its (the operation’s) timing came after the end of the fountain of peace operation. It seems also according to some media outlets that regional countries or one regional country participated in the intelligence work for this operation.

‘(This country) has not been named to avoid negative repercussions or revenge operations that the group (IS) might carry out. I think that Turkey has a role in the intelligence work.’