Trump says Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's likely ISIS successor has been "terminated"
The White House did not immediately clear which ISIS leader the president was referencing. But a State Department official confirmed Monday that a strike did kill ISIS spokesman Abu al-Hassan al-Muhajir in a strike on Sunday, CBS News Pentagon correspondent David Martin reports.
Baghdadi's death: More details emerge from US raid:
The US military operation that targeted ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi got underway on the ground in northwest Syria at 5:01 p.m. ET Saturday, according to a senior US defense official.
Baghdadi’s death was communicated by the special operations forces when they declared “jackpot” at 7:15 p.m. ET, the senior US defense official said. President Trump joined the national security team in the situation room as the operation got underway.
The official said six enemy fighters were killed in the raid and the 11 children, who were safely removed from the house, were turned over to a "responsible" party that had been identified.
The tunnel where the ISIS leader detonated his suicide vest partially collapsed and the forces on the ground had to recover the remains from the rubble while being cautious about any improvised explosive devices, the official said. It was only when the US forces were out of harm's way did the President tweet good news was coming.
State official: Syrian Democratic Forces "played a key role" in the raid:
A senior State Department official told reporters Monday that the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) “played a key role” in the raid on Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's compound.
The official also said the US has been “in close touch” with SDF Commander Gen. Mazloum Abdi “about all aspects of what we’re doing.”
“He, his people, and his intelligence sources, played a key role in all of this,” the official said. “It’s a very, very important role. Nobody should underestimate how key the SDF was in all of this.”
The official said Mazloum’s statements about the raid were accurate.
Trump shares photo of a military dog injured in the raid:
President Trump tweeted a declassified photo of a military dog that participated in the raid on Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's compound.
A US defense official told CNN that the dog suffered injuries from electrocution and is recovering.
In his tweet, Trump said that he could not share the name of the dog because that information is still classified.
Earlier today, Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also declined to name the military dog who played a role in the raid.
“We’re not releasing the name of the dog right now. The dog is still in the theater. The dog, the K-9, the military working dog performed a tremendous service as they all do in a variety of situations. Slightly wounded and fully recovering but the dog is still in the theater, returned to duty with its handler. So we are not going to release just yet photos or names of dogs or anything else," Milley said.
Credit - bbc news
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