TIL Desk/World/Washington/ The US military has published the first footage of the raid in northern Syria in which the leader of the Islamic State (IS) group was killed. Grainy video showed troops firing at militants on the ground as they flew towards the compound where Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was hiding before they moved in on the ground, Baghdadi fled into a tunnel and killed himself by detonating a suicide vest.
After the raid, the compound was destroyed with munitions. The head of US Central Command, Gen Kenneth McKenzie, said the destroyed buildings were left looking like “a parking lot with large potholes”. Gen McKenzie said two children had died with Baghdadi in the tunnel – not three as previously reported.
He also could not confirm President Donald Trump”s graphic description of Baghdadi whimpering and crying as he died. “He crawled into a hole with two small children and blew himself up while his people stayed on the ground. You can deduce what kind of person it is based on that activity,” he told a news conference.
