US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that the "number one replacement" for the Daesh* leadership had been eliminated by American forces.
Just confirmed that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s number one replacement has been terminated by American troops. Most likely would have taken the top spot - Now he is also Dead!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 29, 2019
He didn't mention the name of the eliminated person or the place where the operation was carried out. According to various reports, the terror organisation named former Iraqi officer Abdullah Qardash (also known as Hajji Abdullah al-Afari) as their new leader, but it is not clear if the US president meant him.
Trump previously specified the details of the operation against the Daesh leader, noting that the jihadist "died after running into a dead-end tunnel, whimpering and crying and screaming all the way".
Several states, including Russia, earlier noted that it wasn't obvious if the terrorist had really been killed, as there had been numerous reports of Baghdadi's death in the past, and all seemed to be premature.
*Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS) is a terrorist group banned in Russia.
