President Donald Trump announced Sunday morning in a televised address at the White House that the “world’s number one terrorist leader” is dead.
ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi “blew himself up” when cornered by US forces who conducted a daring, two-hour nighttime raid on his compound in northern Syria, Trump said, providing a detailed account of the mission.
“Last night was a great night for the United States and for the world. A brutal killer, one who has caused so much hardship and death, has violently been eliminated,” he added.
Baghdadi’s death marks the end of a years-long hunt to find one of the most wanted terrorists in the world and the man who declared a so-called Islamic caliphate in Iraq and Syria in 2014.
It was the most significant announcement of the death of a terror leader since President Barack Obama revealed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had been killed by US Navy Seals in a dramatic late night address in May 2011.
“This is a devastating blow. This is not just their leader, it’s their founder. He was an inspirational leader in many ways. He formed ISIS in 2014, he led to establishing the physical caliphate throughout the region, so this is a major blow to them,” Defense Secretary Mark Esper told Jake Tapper Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
To continue reading, click: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/27/politics/bagdhadi-inside-the-raid-timeline/index.html
By Zachary Cohen, CNN
