On the morning of Oct. 27, President Trump announced that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed during a U.S. military raid. The raid took place earlier that night at his compound in Syria and lasted two hours.
Al-Baghdadi was cornered in an underground tunnel where he then detonated a suicide vest, killing himself and two of his children. Both children were under the age of 12, according to General Frank McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command.
The announcement of al-Baghdadi’s death is being recognized as “the most significant announcement of the death of a terror leader since President Barack Obama revealed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in May 2011, according to CNN’s Zachary Cohen.
“This is a devastating blow. This is not just their leader, it’s their founder,” said Secretary of Defense Mark Esper. Al-Baghdadi founded ISIS in 2014.
The ISIS leader’s body was buried at sea, according to ABC News. This method was similar to the way bin Laden’s remains were buried in 2011. Traditionally within Islam, bodies are buried in the ground without a casket, but the U.S. Government decided it was “too risky” to give al-Baghdadi a known grave because the site could become a shrine.
“Just confirmed that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s number one replacement has been terminated by American troops,” Trump tweeted the morning of Oct. 29. He was referring to ISIS Spokesman Abu al-Hassan al-Muhajir, who was killed in a raid on Sunday.
In response to the military raid, ISIS released an audio message acknowledging al-Baghdadi’s death and revealing the identity of his successor. Within the announcement, Baghdadi and al-Muhajir were recognized as “martyrs,” according to NPR.org.
The current ISIS leader is now Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi.
“We suspect they will try some form of retribution attack, and we are postured and prepared for that,” McKenzie said. McKenzie also released a video depicting the raid in Syria that resulted in al-Baghdadi’s death.
