President Trump: ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead
Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump declared Sunday morning that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was dead after a US military raid in northwest Syria over the weekend.
"Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead," Trump said at the White House, calling the ISIS leader's removal "the top national security priority of my administration."
The President said a US special operations forces mission went after the ISIS leader and there were no US deaths during the operation.
Several ISIS fighters and companions of Baghdadi were killed, including two women wearing suicide vests and three children. Trump would not provide a specific number of casualties, only describing those targeted on scene as "more dead than alive." Eleven children were moved out of the house and are uninjured, the President said.
The death of Baghdadi marks the culmination 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. But it also comes as the US military is pulling back in Syria, a move analysts warn could allow for an ISIS resurgence.
But Trump insisted Baghdadi's demise had nothing to do with the US's recent decision to pull out of northern Syria. "No, the pullout had nothing to do with this. In fact we found this out at a very similar time," Trump said. "No, we're after these leaders, and we have others in site."
People look at a destroyed houses near the village of Barisha, in Idlib province, Syria, on Oct. 27, 2019, after an operation by the U.S. military which targeted Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. (AP Photo/Ghaith show the leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. (Photo: Uncredited, AP)
The renewed fighting in the region also led to the release of an unknown number of ISIS fighters who had been imprisoned by the Kurds. Russian forces also moved into the region as a fragile cease-fire along the Turkey-Syria border took hold.
Both the Kurds and the Turks said they provided assistance to the U.S. raid.
Mazloum Abdi, commanding general of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, said on the organization's official Twitter account: "Successful & historical operation due to a joint intelligence work with the United States of America."
In another tweet, the Turkey Ministry of National Defense said: "Prior to the US Operation in Idlib Province of Syria last night, information exchange and coordination between the military authorities of both countries took place,"
Trump signaled the news Saturday night with an enigmatic tweet saying that "something very big has just happened!" Trump said he sent the tweet right after U.S. forces landed in the area.
About 90 minutes later, the White House announced Trump would make "a major statement" from the White House on Sunday morning.
Officials also said Defense Secretary Mark Esper would appear on Sunday morning new programs to discuss developments in Syria.
As the leader of a self-proclaimed caliphate, the charismatic and vicious al-Baghdadi urged followers to carry out attacks against the United States and other Western countries.
Syrian government forces reinforcements arrive near the city of Ras al-Ayn, in the north of Syria, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019.
