President Donald Trump announced the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State.
“A brutal killer, one who has caused so much hardship and death, has violently been eliminated,” Trump said in an address to the nation from the White House. “He will never again harm another innocent man, woman or child. He died like a dog. He died like a coward. The world is now a much safer place.”
Trump said he was able to watch most of the operation in the situation room as it happened.
BREAKING: Pres. Trump details death of ISIS leader al-Baghdadi: “The thug who tried so hard to intimidate others spent his last moments in utter fear, in total panic and dread, terrified of the American forces bearing down on him.” https://t.co/362XDBRqsO pic.twitter.com/bFRxFytfFM
“Al-Baghdadi was vicious and violent and he died in a vicious and violent way. As a coward running and crying,” Trump said. “This raid was impeccable and could only have taken place with the acknowledgment and help of certain other nations and people. I want to thank the nations of Russia, Turkey, Syria, and Iraq and I also want to thank the Syrian kurds for certain support they were able to give us.”
The president described al-Baghdadi running into a dead-end tunnel, “whimpering, crying and screaming the whole time.” He also confirmed that the ISIS leader detonated a suicide vest that he was wearing and killed himself, two of his wives and some children. He said the two women were wearing vests, but they hadn’t been detonated.
There were no American troops wounded, but a military dog was hurt when al-Baghdadi’s vest was detonated, Trump said.
NEW: Defense Sec. Mark Esper says fewer than 100 forces were on the ground during raid, “but these are always much bigger operations, the tail of which stretches back pretty deep.” https://t.co/GRPIcauFpK pic.twitter.com/Se19nPZHxl
Defense Secretary Mark Esper appeared on ABC’s “This Week” following the president’s remarks and described more details of the military operation, saying the starts started lining up a couple of weeks ago. He said troops rehearsed the mission and then on Thursday and Friday chose the option they would proceed with on Saturday.
Asked by “This Week” Co-Anchor Martha Raddatz about the possible uptick in violence following al-Baghdadi’s death, Esper said, “When you take out a leader like that, it’s going to have, I think, a major impact on the organization, but we’ll see over time.”
Pres. Trump says he watched raid that killed ISIS leader with Vice Pres. Pence and others in the Situation Room.
The president said al-Baghdadi’s remains were positively identified with an onsite DNA test.
Rumors had swirled since at least 2014 that al-Baghdadi had been wounded, or possibly even killed, but he’d often quash those himself by releasing audio recordings.
NEW: Pres. Trump on raid killing ISIS leader: “I want to thank the nations of Russia, Turkey, Syria, and Iraq.
U.S. special forces nearly killed him in August 2017, destroying a compound south of Ragga in which he was believed to have been during a massive bombardment. The following month, he released an audio recording to prove he’d survived.
The ISIS leader was last seen alive in a video in April.
There had been a $25 million U.S. bounty on the head of al-Baghdadi, who, in his only previous video, recorded in a Mosul mosque in 2014, called himself “Caliph,” or leader of all Muslims.
“I am grateful to our President and brave troops for finding ISIS leader Al-Bagdadi,” Diane Foley of the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation said in a statement. “I hope this will hinder the resurgence of terror groups and pray that captured ISIS fighters will be brought to trial and held accountable. I remain concerned about the dozen Americans held hostage in Syria, including Austin Tice and Majd Kamalmaz.”
The president said American forces were in the compound for about two hours after the mission and collected sensitive information.
“Last night was a great night for the United States and for the world,” Trump said.
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