Trump says US forces cornered IS leader in dead-end tunnel
WASHINGTON (AP) — Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi , the shadowy leader of the Islamic State group who presided over its global jihad and became arguably the world's most wanted man, was killed in a U.S. military raid in Syria, President Donald Trump said Sunday. He provided graphic details of al-Baghdadi's final moments as American forces pursued and cornered him and his children in a dead-end tunnel.
"Last night, the United States brought the world's number one terrorist leader to justice," Trump announced at the White House. "Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead."
In a national address, Trump described a nighttime airborne raid in Syria's northwestern Idlib province, with American special operations forces flying over heavily militarized territory controlled by multiple nations and forces. No U.S. troops were killed in the operation, Trump said.
The death of al-Baghdadi was a milestone in the fight against IS, which brutalized swaths of Syria and Iraq and sought to direct a global terrorism campaign from a self-declared "caliphate." A yearslong campaign by American and allied forces led to the recapture of the group's territorial holding, but its violent ideology has continued to inspire attacks.
As U.S. troops bore down on al-Baghdadi, he fled into a "dead-end" tunnel with three of his children, Trump said, and detonated a suicide vest. "He was a sick and depraved man, and now he's gone," Trump said. "He died like a dog, he died like a coward."
Al-Baghdadi's identity was confirmed by a DNA test conducted onsite, Trump said.
Trump had teased a major announcement late Saturday, tweeting that "Something very big has just happened!" By the morning, he was thanking Russia, Turkey, Syria and Iraq, as well as Kurdish fighters in Syria for their support.
The operation marks a significant...