Iraq says it gave ‘accurate’ intel of Baghdadi

By Ibrahim Saleh

BAGHDAD (AA) - Iraq’s intelligence had identified the “accurate” location of the head of terrorist group Daesh, also known as ISIS, the Iraqi Defense Ministry said on Sunday.

In a statement, the ministry said that after a year-long follow-up, the Iraqi National Intelligence Service (INIS) was able to identify the hideout of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in the province of Idlib, northwestern Syria.

It claimed that the U.S. forces in coordination with the Iraqi intelligence service carried out the operation that led to his killing.

Earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that al-Baghdadi, who led the Daesh terror organization as it swept up large swaths of Iraq and Syria, has been killed in a U.S. nighttime raid in northwestern Syria.

"Last night the United States brought the world's number one terrorist leader to justice. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead," Trump said from the White House in nationally-televised remarks.

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

The special operations mission included eight helicopters descending on the compound where he had been holed up amid gunfire that Trump said was "immediately terminated" by U.S. gunships.