*ISLAMABAD – The US military conducted a special operations raid targetingAbu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS. His death is still pendingfurther verification, but senior Pentagon officials say they have “highconfidence” that the high-value target killed was Baghdadi.*
*Newsweek*linkthe first to report the news. It also reported that US President DonaldTrump sanctioned the mission nearly a week before it took place.
The White House announced that the president would make a “major statement”at 1300 GMT. A tweet from the president confirms that something ofsignificance has taken place.
linkDonald J. Trump✔@realDonaldTrumplinklink
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If confirmed, this will be the highest-ranking terrorist leader to bekilled or captured since Osama bin Laden’s death in 2011.
A senior Pentagon official told *Newsweek* that there was a brief firefightwhen US forces entered the compound and that Baghdadi then killed himselfby detonating a suicide vest. Family members were present. According toPentagon sources, no children were harmed in the raid but two of Baghdadi’swives were killed, possibly by the vest detonation.
The raid was conducted by members of a team from the Joint SpecialOperations Command.
Baghdadi is an Iraqi national who became active in the Islamist insurgencyagainst US forces following the 2003 invasion that toppled Iraqi PresidentSaddam Hussein. He was held by US forces in the detention centres of AbuGhraib and Camp Bucca.
