US releases first footage of raid on Baghdadi's compound in Syria

WASHINGTON: The US military has released the first footage of the raid by special forces in northern Syria that resulted in the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State terror group.

Baghdadi, 48, died on Saturday after the world's most wanted terrorist, blew up his suicide vest following the US raid on his compound in Syria's Idlib province.

"...at the compound, fighters from two locations in the vicinity of the compound began firing on U.S. aircraft participating in the assault."
- Gen Frank McKenzie CDR USCENTCOM pic.twitter.com/SkrtHNDs7w

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) October 30, 2019

Releasing a few short grainy videos of the strike captured by an overhead drone, US Central Command Commander Gen. Kenneth Mckenzie told reporters at a Pentagon news conference that after the raid, Baghdadi's compound looks "pretty much like a parking lot with large potholes."

The compound was destroyed in a way to ensure that it would not be a shrine or otherwise memorable in any way. It's just another piece of ground now, he said.

The newly declassified video and images of the two-hour raid targeting -Baghdadi that shows US forces taking small arms fire from multiple locations as their helicopters approached the compound.

The video also shows the commandos approaching Baghdadi's compound and aerial strikes carried out by US F-15 fighter jets and MQ-9 Reaper Drones to blow up the site once it was cleared.

Before Baghdadi was found by the US forces running for life in a tunnel, American troops killed five ISIS members, including four women who engaged with them in fire, Mckenzie said.

He said two children, appeared to be under 12 years old, were killed in the raid, not three as believed earlier.

"About Baghdadi's last moments. I can tell you this, he crawled into a hole with two small children, blew himself up while his people stayed on the ground. So, you can deduce what kind of person it is based on that activity, he said but refused to confirm or deny anything else about his last seconds.

McKenzie said in all six ISIS members were killed including four women and two men.