President Donald J. Trump is joined by Vice President Mike Pence, National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien, left; Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff U.S. Army General Mark A. Milley, right, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019, in the Situation Room of the White House monitoring developments as U.S. Special Operations forces close in on notorious ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s compound in Syria with a mission to kill or capture the terrorist. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)
Over the weekend, the President announced the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS. Sebastian Smith and Omar Haj Kadour report for AFP:
Trump told the nation in a televised White House address that a “large number” of IS militants were killed during the raid, which culminated with Baghdadi cornered in a tunnel, where he detonated a suicide vest.
“He died after running into a dead-end tunnel, whimpering and crying and screaming all the way,” Trump said, adding that three of Baghdadi’s children were also killed in the blast.
Trump said the raid — involving eight helicopters flying more than an hour from an undisclosed base — was carried out with cooperation from Russia, Syria, Turkey and Iraq. He also thanked the Syrian Kurds “for a certain support they were able to give us.”
Trump’s national security adviser Robert O’Brien described the dramatic message the president and his advisers received as they monitored the raid from the White House Situation Room.
“The commander of the mission called and said, ‘100 percent confidence, Jackpot'” — meaning Baghdadi was dead — O’Brien said on NBC.
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