A former officer in Saddam Hussein’s army, Abdullah Qardash, has reportedly taken over as the leader of ISIS after the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Qardash, known as ‘The Professor; is believed to have assumed control of the day-to-day running of the jihadi group.
Qardash was reportedly appointed as Baghdadi’s successor in August, after the terror chief was wounded in an airstrike and was also suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure.
Baghdadi was killed when US forces swooped on his compound in northwestern Syria and he blew up self-up with a suicide vest after being cornered in a tunnel.
The killing of Baghdadi was a major victory for Trump, who has been heavily criticised for his decision to pull U.S. troops out of northern Syria earlier this month and is fighting an impeachment inquiry launched by Democrats.
In an unusual statement on Sunday, Trump said Baghdadi died after running into a dead-end tunnel in Idlib Province, “whimpering, crying and screaming all the way”, as he was chased by U.S. dogs.
Baghdadi was accompanied by three of his young children, Trump said, and detonated his suicide vest, killing them all. The blast mutilated Baghdadi’s body but DNA tests confirmed his identity.
“The thug who tried so hard to intimidate others spent his last moments in utter fear, in total panic and dread, terrified of the American forces bearing down on him,” Trump said.
The location in Idlib Province was far from where Baghdadi had been thought to be hiding on the Syria-Iraq border. Many parts of Idlib are under the control of jihadists opposed to ISIS, but rival groups are suspected of sheltering ISIS militants.
Baghdadi had been under surveillance for “a couple of weeks” and several other raids had been cancelled because of his movements, the president said, describing the location as a “compound”.
No U.S. soldiers had been killed but a number of Baghdadi’s followers also died while others were captured, Trump said, adding that “highly sensitive material and information” had been gathered.
A resident in Barisha, where the raid reportedly took place, said helicopters shot for 30 minutes late on Saturday, before troops became active on the ground.
Helicopters fired at two houses, flattening one, he said.
Syrian Kurdish-led forces – one of the main U.S. allies in northern Syria until President Trump withdrew U.S. troops from the area this month – said they had carried out a “historic” joint operation.
Trump praised them, as well as Russia, Iraq, Turkey and Syria for giving “certain support” to the operation.
Al-Baghdadi, whose real name was Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim al-Badri, had a reputation as a highly organised and ruthless battlefield tactician.
He was described as the world’s most wanted man.
He was born near Samarra, north of Baghdad, in 1971, and reports said he was a cleric in a mosque in the city around the time of the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
Some believe he was already a jihadist during the rule of former Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein.
Others suggest he was radicalised during the time he was held at Camp Bucca, a U.S. facility in southern Iraq, where many al-Qaeda commanders were detained.
Baghdadi emerged in 2010 as the leader of an umbrella group that included al-Qaeda in Iraq, and rose to prominence when ISIS militants captured the Iraqi city of Mosul in 2014, when he declared the creation of a “caliphate”.
That was the only time Baghdadi was seen in public.
He reappeared in a video released by ISIS earlier this year.
In October 2011, the U.S. officially designated him a “terrorist” and offered a $10 million (about £5.8 million as at that time) bounty for information that could lead to his capture or death. This was increased to $25 million in 2017.
With The Sun (UK) report
