Trump: Daesh leader Al-Baghdadi ‘died a coward’ in US raid in north-west Syria

The US Army reportedly targeted Daesh group leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. (AFP)
Updated 28 October 2019
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Trump: Daesh leader Al-Baghdadi ‘died a coward’ in US raid in north-west Syria

  • Al-Baghdadi died along with his three children when he detonated a suicide vest after being chased down a tunnel by dogs
  • Trump says Al-Baghdadi spent his last moments in utter fear, panic and dread

WASHINGTON: Donald Trump on Sunday announced that Daesh leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi was killed during an overnight raid led by US military forces in Syria.

“The thug who tried so hard to intimidate others spent his last moments in utter fear, panic and dread, terrified of the American forces coming down on him," the US President said in a televised address to the nation from the White House.

Trump said Al-Baghdadi died in north-west Syria after running into a dead-end tunnel during a “daring and dangerous” operation.

“He reached the end of the tunnel as our dogs chased him down. He ignited his vest, killing himself and his three children. His body was mutilated by the blasts. The tunnel had caved on him,” Trump added.

“He was a sick and depraved man, and now he’s gone.”

Al-Baghdadi’s identity was confirmed by a DNA test conducted at the scene, the president said.

 

 

Trump said that the raid – which required flying more than an hour by helicopter in both directions from an undisclosed base – had been accomplished by help from Russia, Syria, Turkey and Iraq.

Al-Baghdadi led Daesh for the last five years, presiding over its ascendancy as it cultivated a reputation for beheadings and attracted hundreds of thousands of followers to a sprawling and self-styled caliphate in Iraq and Syria.

He remained among the few Daesh commanders still at large despite multiple claims in recent years about his death and even as his so-called caliphate dramatically shrank, with many supporters who joined the cause either imprisoned or jailed. 

With a $25 million US bounty on his head, Al-Baghdadi had been far less visible in recent years, releasing only sporadic audio recordings, including one just last month in which he called on members of the group to do all they could to free Daesh detainees and women held in jails and camps.

Iraqi state television also posted another video claimed to be the blast site, which showed rubble and clothes strewn around a huge crater.

The death of Al-Baghdadi comes as a big boost for Trump, whose abrupt decision to withdraw a small but effective deployment of US forces from Syria caused fears that it would give Daesh remnants and sleeper cells a chance to regroup.

Trump had teased the news late Saturday with an enigmatic tweet saying merely that “Something very big has just happened!”

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said  the operation took place after its intelligence pinpointed Al-Baghdadi’s location.

Iraq also said it had provided his location.

"After constant monitoring and the formation of a specialised task force over an entire year, the Iraqi National Intelligence Service acting on accurate information was able to locate the den in which the head of Daesh terrorists Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and those with him were hiding in the Syrian province of Idlib," the Iraqi military said.

Turkey on Sunday said there was ‘coordination’ between Ankara and Washington before the operation.

“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,” the Turkish defense ministry said.

A war monitor said US helicopters dropped forces in an area of Syria's Idlib province where “groups linked to the Islamic State group” were present.

The helicopters targeted a home and a car outside the village of Barisha in Idlib province, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The operation killed nine people including a Daesh senior leader called Abu Yamaan as well as a child and two women, it said.

An AFP correspondent outside Barisha saw a minibus scorched to cinders by the side of the road, and windows shattered in a neighbor's house.

A resident in the area who gave his name as Abdel Hameed said he rushed to the place of the attack after he heard helicopters, gunfire and strikes in the night.

"The home had collapsed and next to it there was a destroyed tent and vehicle. There were two people killed inside" the car, he said.

Ali Bakr, an expert on Islamist movements, told Al-Arabiya that it was interesting Baghdadi was hiding next to the Turkish border, especially with the history between Turkey and Daesh.

“I don’t know why Trump chose to kill him now, maybe he was trying to show that US withdrawal does not mean they will stop fighting terrorist organizations, or maybe because US elections are coming up,” he said.

“But it will be attributed to Trump and his administration, that they were able to kill the Daesh leader [although] in reality, Daesh will not be that affected … they can find other leaders who will take the lead.”

Ibrahim Al-Idlibi, a Syrian journalist, told Al-Arabiya the place that US forces raided could not be Baghdadi’s actually hiding place, as it was “too open.”

“He was possibly meeting with other countries’ intelligence experts. We do not know who was he meeting there or who gave the information that he was there,” he said.

Hours after the Idlib raid, the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia said Daesh spokesman Abu Al-Hassan Al-MuHajjir, described as Al-Baghdadi’s right-hand man, had also been killed in a joint raid by Kurdish-led and US forces in northern Syria.

The death of Al-Baghdadi is another severe blow to Daesh, which has been in disarray and has no declared successor as leader. Iraqi analyst Hisham Al-Hashemi said it would lead to a split in the terror group. 

“The split is inevitable, it always happens when any radical group loses a charismatic leader,” he said.

At the height of its so-called “caliphate,” Daesh ruled over millions of people in territory running from northern Syria through towns and villages along the Tigris and Euphrates valleys to the outskirts of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

It killed thousands of civilians in a genocidal campaign against Iraq’s Yazidi minority, and caused worldwide revulsion by beheading foreign nationals from countries including the US, Britain and Japan.

The group also carried out or inspired attacks in Paris, Nice, Orlando, Manchester, London and Berlin, and in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran and Egypt.

But in 2017 Daesh lost control of Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria, and then almost all of its territory, turning Al-Baghdadi into  a fugitive.

 

(With agencies)


Israel army says launched ‘special, targeted operations’ in south Lebanon

Updated 15 sec ago
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Israel army says launched ‘special, targeted operations’ in south Lebanon

JERUSALEM: Israel’s military said Wednesday its troops entered southern Lebanon as part of targeted operations to dismantle infrastructure belonging to the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
“Following intelligence information and the identification of Hezbollah weapons and terrorist infrastructure in several areas of southern Lebanon, the soldiers launched special, targeted operations to dismantle them and prevent Hezbollah from reestablishing itself in the area,” an army statement said.
The military did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment on whether this was the first time Israeli troops had operated on the ground in Lebanon since a November ceasefire.
But the army shared a video captioned “footage from a targeted nighttime operation of the 9th Brigade in southern Lebanon,” showing troops walking on the ground.
AFP was unable to verify the footage, the time or location it was shot.
The army statement said the 9th Brigade was in the Labbouneh area, just over the border. Troops from the 300th Brigade operated in the Jabal Blat area further west, also within sight of the frontier.
Despite a November truce with Hezbollah, Israel has kept up its strikes on Lebanon, mainly saying it is targeting the group’s sites and operatives but also occasionally members of their Palestinian ally Hamas.
The November 27 ceasefire sought to end more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah, including two months of all-out war that left the group severely weakened.
Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah was to pull its fighters back north of the Litani river, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border, leaving the Lebanese army and United Nations peacekeepers as the only armed parties in the region.
Israel was required to fully withdraw its troops from the country but has kept them in five places it deems strategic.

Armenia, Azerbaijan to meet for peace talks in UAE Thursday

Updated 09 July 2025
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Armenia, Azerbaijan to meet for peace talks in UAE Thursday

  • The announcement came a day after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed hope for a swift peace deal between the Caucasus neighbors

BAKU: The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan will meet on Thursday in the United Arab Emirates for peace talks, two days after the US expressed hope for a swift deal.
Baku and Yerevan fought two wars over the disputed Karabakh region, which Azerbaijan recaptured from Armenian forces in a lightning offensive in 2023, prompting the exodus of more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians.
The arch foes agreed on the text of a comprehensive peace deal in March, but Baku has since outlined a host of demands — including amendments to Armenia’s constitution to drop its territorial claims for the Karabakh — before signing the document.
On Wednesday, the Armenian government said Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev will meet the following day in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi, “within the framework of the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan.”
The Azerbaijani presidency issued an identical statement.
The announcement came a day after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed hope for a swift peace deal between the Caucasus neighbors.
Aliyev and Pashinyan last met on the sidelines of the European Political Community summit in Albania in May.


Iraq’s Kurdistan enjoys all-day state electricity

Updated 09 July 2025
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Iraq’s Kurdistan enjoys all-day state electricity

  • The region’s electricity minister, Kamal Mohammed, said residents were now enjoying “uninterrupted, cleaner, and more affordable electricity”

Irbil: More than 30 percent of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region now has 24-hour state electricity, authorities said Thursday, with plans to extend full coverage by the end of 2026.
The northern region of Kurdistan has long promoted itself as a haven of relative stability in an otherwise volatile country.
Despite Iraq’s vast oil wealth, the national grid struggles to meet demand, leaving most areas reliant on imported energy and subject to frequent power cuts.
“Today, two million people across the Kurdistan region enjoy 24-hour electricity... that’s 30 percent of the population,” including the cities of Irbil, Duhok and Sulaimaniyah, said regional prime minister Masrour Barzani.
In 2024, the Kurdistan Regional Government launched “Project Runaki” to deliver round-the-clock power in a region where, like much of Iraq, residents often turn to costly and polluting private generators.
The region’s electricity minister, Kamal Mohammed, said residents were now enjoying “uninterrupted, cleaner, and more affordable electricity.”
“Rollout to other areas is expected to be completed by the end of 2026,” he told AFP.
As part of the transition, roughly 30 percent of the 7,000 private generators operating across Kurdistan have already been decommissioned, he said, a move that has contributed to an estimated annual reduction of nearly 400,000 tons of CO2 emissions.
The project also aims to lower household electricity bills, offering a cheaper alternative to the combined cost of grid power and private generator fees.
However, bills will still depend on consumption and are likely to increase during peak summer and winter months.
Mohammed said the project’s success hinges on the introduction of “smart” meters to curb electricity theft, as well as a new tariff system to promote responsible usage.
“More power has been added to the grid to support 24/7 access,” he said.
Kurdistan has doubled its gas production in the past five years, and most of the power supply comes from local gas production, Mohammed said.
Despite Iraq’s abundant oil and gas reserves, years of conflict have devastated its infrastructure.
The country remains heavily reliant on imports, particularly from neighboring Iran, which frequently interrupts supply. It also imports electricity from Jordan and Turkiye, while seeking to boost its own gas output.
“We stand ready to offer our technical support and assistance” to the federal government, Mohammed said.
In Irbil, resident Bishdar Attar, 38, said the biggest change was the absence of noisy and polluting generators.
“The air is now clear,” he said. “We can now use home appliances freely... as needed.”


40 Palestinians killed in Gaza as Netanyahu and Trump meet over a ceasefire

Updated 09 July 2025
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40 Palestinians killed in Gaza as Netanyahu and Trump meet over a ceasefire

  • Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children
  • Many Palestinians are watching the ceasefire negotiations with desperate for an end to the war

DEIR AL-BALAH: At least 40 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, hospital officials said Wednesday, as international mediators raced to complete a ceasefire deal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a second meeting in two days with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday evening. Trump has been pushing for a ceasefire that might lead to an end to the 21-month war in Gaza. Israel and Hamas are considering a new US-backed ceasefire proposal that would pause the war, free Israeli hostages and send much-needed aid into Gaza.
Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis said the dead included included 17 women and 10 children. It said one strike killed 10 people from the same family, including three children.
The Israeli military did not comment on specific strikes, but said it had struck more than 100 targets across Gaza over the past day, including militants, booby-trapped structures, weapons storage facilities, missile launchers and tunnels. Israel accuses Hamas of hiding weapons and fighters among civilians.
Struggle to secure food and water
Many Palestinians are watching the ceasefire negotiations with trepidation, desperate for an end to the war.
In the sprawling coastal Muwasi area, where many live in ad-hoc tents after being displaced from their homes, Abeer Al-Najjar said she had struggled during the constant bombardments to secure sufficient food and water for her family. “I pray to God that there would be a pause, and not just a pause where they would lie to us with a month or two, then start doing what they’re doing to us again. We want a full ceasefire.”
Her husband, Ali Al-Najjar, said life has been especially tough in the summer, with no access to drinking water in a crowded tent in the Middle Eastern heat. “We hope this would be the end of our suffering and we can rebuild our country again,” he said, before running through a crowd with two buckets to fill them from a water truck.
People chased the vehicle as it drove away to another location.
Amani Abu-Omar said the water truck comes every four days, not enough for her dehydrated children. She complained of skin rashes in the summer heat. She said she was desperate for a ceasefire but fears she would be let down again. “We had expected ceasefires on many occasions, but it was for nothing,” she said.
The war started after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage. Most of the hostages have been released in earlier ceasefires. Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The UN and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.
Netanyahu and Trump meet again
Netanyahu told reporters in the Capitol on Tuesday that he and Trump see “eye to eye” on the need to destroy Hamas. He added that the cooperation and coordination between Israel and the US is currently the best it has ever been during Israel’s 77-year-history.
Later this week, Trump’s Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, is expected to head to the Qatari capital of Doha to continue indirect negotiations with Hamas on the ceasefire proposal.
Witkoff said late Tuesday that three key areas of disagreement had been resolved, but that one key issue still remained. He did not elaborate.
After the second meeting, Netanyahu said he and Trump also discussed the “great victory” over Iran from Israeli and American strikes during the 12-day war that ended two weeks ago.
“Opportunities have been opened here for expanding the circle of peace, for expanding the Abraham Accords,” said Netanyahu, referring to normalization agreements between Israel and multiple Arab nations that were brokered by Trump in his first term. Washington has been pushing for normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel.


Six crew rescued from cargo ship attacked in Red Sea

Updated 2 min 24 sec ago
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Six crew rescued from cargo ship attacked in Red Sea

  • Some of the crew were in lifejackets in the water and at least five people have been rescued so far

DUBAI: Six seafarers have been rescued after a cargo ship was attacked and sunk off in Yemen, maritime monitors said Wednesday, as a search continues for the remaining crew.
The Eternity C, a Liberian-flagged bulk carrier, was badly damaged in the deadly attack in the Red Sea that started on Monday and continued into Tuesday.
The attacks mark the first wave of Houthi-linked ship strikes since last month’s 12-day war between their main backer, Iran, and Israel.
“Search and rescue operations commenced overnight,” said the British navy’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations.
On Tuesday, the European Union force patrolling the Red Sea told AFP that three people were killed and at least two injured — including a Russian electrician who lost a leg — in the attack on the Eternity C.
Twenty-two people were aboard the Greek-operated vessel, all but one from the Philippines, according to Filipino officials.
The US embassy in Yemen has accused the Houthis of staging the attack, with UK-based security firm Ambrey also saying the group was likely to blame.
The Houthis have attacked ships in the vital trade route since the start of the Gaza war, claiming solidarity with the Palestinian cause.
But Sunday’s attack on the Magic Seas was their first since late last year, following a Gaza ceasefire and a heavy US bombing campaign targeting Houthi areas.
The rebels released a propaganda video showing masked, armed men storming the Magic Seas and simultaneous explosions that scuttled the bulk carrier.
Houthi attacks have prompted many freight companies to detour around southern Africa to avoid the Red Sea, which normally carries about 12 percent of global trade.
The US bombing campaign, aimed at stamping out the attacks, ended with a ceasefire in early May. However, the rebels told AFP they would continue to target “Israeli ships.”
On Monday, they said they hit the Magic Seas because the company that owns it had done business with Israel and used its ports.
In a statement on Tuesday, the US embassy in Yemen blamed the Houthis for the Eternity C attack, calling it “the most violent” yet and accusing them “undermining freedom of navigation in the Red Sea.”
Meanwhile Israel, stung by regular Houthi missile attacks, has carried out several strikes on Yemen, including a wave of air raids on Sunday.