ABU BAKR AL-BAGHDADI, the shadowy leader of the Islamic State (IS) group, who presided over its global jihad and became arguably the world’s most wanted man, is believed dead after being targeted by a U.S. military raid in Syria. A U.S. official said Saturday that al-Baghdadi was targeted in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province. The official said confirmation that the IS chief was killed in an explosion is pending. The official was not authorized to discuss the strike and spoke on condition of anonymity. U.S. President Donald Trump teased a major announcement, tweeting Saturday night that “Something very big has just happened!” If confirmed, it could prove a major boost for Trump. The recent pullback of U.S. troops he ordered from northeastern Syria raised a storm of bipartisan criticism in Washington that the militant group could regain strength. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported an attack carried out by a squadron of eight helicopters accompanied by a warplane on positions of the Hurras al-Deen, an al-Qaida-linked group, in the Barisha area north of Idlib city, after midnight Saturday. IS operatives are believed to be hiding in the area, it said.(SD-Agencies) |