WASHINGTON – The Pentagon on Wednesday released its first images from last weekend’s commando raid in Syria that led to the death of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The videos from Saturday’s raid showed the United States (US) special operations forces closing in on the compound and the US aircraft firing on militants nearby.
Baghdadi here an Iraqi jihadist who rose from obscurity to declare himself “caliph” of all Muslims as the leader of Islamic State, died by detonating a suicide vest as he fled into a dead-end tunnel as elite US special forces closed in.
Marine General Kenneth McKenzie, the commander of US Central Command, said Baghdadi brought two young children into the tunnel with him. Both children were believed to be under the age of 12 and both were killed.
McKenzie said Islamic State would likely try to stage some kind of retaliatory attack.
“We suspect they will try some form of retribution attack. And we are postured and prepared for that,” he added.(Reuters)
