IS remains dangerous, can try ‘retribution’ strike, says US
The black-and-white images, both stills and videos, showed al-Baghdadi’s compound in Idlib, Syria before the raid, US special forces approaching the compound, US helicopters taking out non-IS fighters who fired at them, and the bombing of the site after the assault was over.
The United States military has released the first visuals of the raid in which Islamic State’s Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed last weekend and warned that the outfit’s “actions might be a little bit disjointed” as a result, but they remain “dangerous” and will try some kind of a “retribution attack”.
The black-and-white images, both stills and videos, showed al-Baghdadi’s compound in Idlib, Syria before the raid, US special forces approaching the compound, US helicopters taking out non-IS fighters who fired at them, and the bombing of the site after the assault was over.
Six IS people were killed in the raid, including al-Baghdadi and two children (not three as stated earlier), said General Kenneth McKenzie, commander of the US central command, at the release Wednesday of the images and more granular details of the raid than shared earlier by President Donald Trump and other military leaders.
“Suspect at the highest levels they’ll be a little disrupted; it will take them some time to reestablish someone to lead the organization, and during that period of time their actions may be a little bit disjointed,” the general said in response to a question about the state of the terrorist outfit with its top leader gone.
He added: “They will be dangerous. We suspect they will try some form of retribution attack.”
US military leaders have cautioned against writing off the outfit, which has suffered severe reverses in recent years including the loss of its so-called “caliphate” made of areas captured from Syria and Iraq. But its influence continues, inspiring attacks around the world such as Sri Lanka church bombings, as, the General said, the IS is “first and last an ideology”.
He added: “We don’t see a bloodless future, because, unfortunately, this ideology is going to be out there, but we think there’s a way to get to a point where it’s going to be less -- less and less effective over time.”
There were no visuals of the raid as it had unfolded inside the compound of which President Trump had given the most vivid description in his White House announcement Sunday — of al-Baghdadi being chased by US military dogs in a tunnel and of the IS leader “whimpering, screaming and crying” before he exploded his suicide vest killing himself.
General McKenzie declined to “confirm that (account) one way or another” when asked, but said, “I can tell you this: he crawled into a hole with two small children (not three as has been earlier stated), and blew himself up while his -- while his people stayed on the ground; so you can deduce what kind of person it is based on that activity.”
About the US military dog injured in the assault, the general said in a specific mention said it is a veteran of 50 combat missions and wounded by live electrical wires exposed by the explosion triggered by al-Baghdadi to killing himself.