A resident in Syria’s northern Idlib Governorate describes hearing a big operation after midnight local time-possibly the US air raid targeting ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
“After midnight we heard multiple helicopters and warplanes flying in the sky,” the witness told CNN. “I saw four helicopters but there could be more, it was very dark and I couldn’t tell exactly. I heard the sounds of very far away heavy machine guns, the sounds of the blasts lasted for about an hour and from my place I couldn’t tell if there was an air drop or not, not even if the attack was on Barisha (a village in northern Idlib suburbs) but it was to the western side of Sarmada. “
The witness lives in the town of Sarmada, in northern Idlib Governornate, about 5 km away from Barisha.
Syrian activists previously released videos which they claim were of the operation that may have killed al-Baghdadi. Those videos purportedly showed an air raid, including several helicopters and warplanes, carried out in the village of Barisha, in the northern Idlib suburbs, close to the Turkish border.
CNN cannot independently confirm the videos’ authenticity.
ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is believed to have detonated a suicide vest during a raid conducted by the US military in northwest Syria on Saturday, according to a senior US defense official.
A preacher of hate. The instigator and inspirer of some of the most hideous acts of violence ever put to video. An elusive fugitive, hunted by drones, only once seen in public. The perverter of Islam with a nauseatingly infectious ideology that had a greater lure to a disenfranchised minority than anything comparable since the 1970 s.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been all of these, and now – after he is believed to have been killed in a raid by US troops –he leaves behind a trail of ghastly crimes, internecine hatredsand the sad realization that he and his brand of bloodthirsty, loathing ISIS are an ongoing symptom of regional upheaval and failure, and of what the Internet can do to the isolated and deranged.
In its geographical scope, ISIS was the candle that burned twice as bright and burned half as long.
It was in late 2013 that Baghdadi’s followers first swept into Raqqa. That began their ambitions in Syria, and led in June 2014 to the establishing of what they called an Islamic “caliphate,” never short of ambition, but rarely showing enough sobriety or statehood to last for very long.
The news that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is believed to have been killed comes on the back of concerns thousands of imprisoned ISIS fighters might escape thanks to Turkey’s recent invasion of northern Syria.
The fear is that as the Kurdish personnel guarding them gear up for a fight with Turkey, which launched a military offensive in northeastern Syria earlier this month, many prisoners could slip away.
Turkey’s assault has already had a “detrimental effect” on American counter-ISIS operations, which have “effectively stopped,” a senior US defense official told CNN on October 9.
The Turkish offensive, the official said, “has challenged our ability to build local security forces, conduct stabilization operations and the Syrian Democratic Forces’ (ability) to guard over 11, 000 dangerous ISIS fighters. “
When asked earlier this month about the threat of ISIS prisoners escaping, US President Donald Trump claimed that some of the most dangerous ISIS prisoners had been moved, “putting them in other areas where it’s secure.”
He dismissed the overall threat, replying, “Well, they’re going to be escaping to Europe. “
News of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s apparent death emerged after US President Donald Trump tweeted late Saturday night that “Something very big has just happened!”
He is scheduled to make a major announcement Sunday at 9 a.m. ET, White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley announced.
An administration official tells CNN that the announcement is foreign policy related.
ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is believed to have been killed in a raid conducted by the US military in northwest Syria on Saturday, according to a senior US defense official and a source with knowledge. The final confirmation is pending while DNA and biometric testing is conducted, both sources tell CNN.
The defense official said it appears that Baghdadi detonated a suicide vest during the raid.
The CIA assisted in locating the ISIS leader, the defense official said.
US President Donald Trump is scheduled to make a major announcement Sunday at 9 am ET, White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley announced. An administration official tells CNN that the announcement is foreign policy related.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Baghdadi, the leader of the terror group, has been in hiding for the last five years. In April, a video was published by the ISIS media wing al-Furqan that showed a man purporting to be Baghdadi. It was the first time Baghdadi had been seen since July 2014, when he spoke at the Great Mosque in Mosul.
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