Pentagon releases video of US raid in which Baghdadi was killed

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Reddit
  • Flipboard
  • Email
  • WhatsApp
Pentagon releases video of US raid in which Baghdadi was killed
Pentagon releases video of US raid in which Baghdadi was killed

New Delhi : Pentagon on Thursday released a video and photos of the US special forces raid in which Islamic State chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed.

Among the images released by the Defense Department was grainy black-and-white footage of US troops approaching on foot the high-walled compound in northwestern Syria where Baghdadi was holed up.

The Pentagon also released a video of airstrikes on the unknown fighters on ground who opened fire on the helicopters which were ferrying US army officials in Syria's Idlib province.

Before and after pictures of the isolated compound were also released.

The compound was razed by US munitions after the raid, leaving it looking like "a parking lot with large potholes," said Marine Corps General Kenneth McKenzie, commander of US Central Command.

McKenzie also revealed new details from the Sunday raid. He said that two children were killed -- and not three as President Donald Trump previously said -- when Baghdadi blew himself up with a suicide vest in a tunnel as he tried to escape US troops.

"About Baghdadi's last moments, I could tell you this," he said. "He crawled into a hole with two small children and blew himself up while his people stayed on the ground."

Baghdadi "may have fired from his hole in his last moments," he added.