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Daesh Confirms Death of al-Baghdadi Following US Raid, Names Successor - Reports

On 27 October, US President Donald Trump announced that Daesh leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had been killed in a raid executed by US Special Operations Forces in Syria’s Idlib province.
Sputnik

Daesh* has named Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Qurashi as its new leader following al-Baghdadi's death in a US raid, Reuters reported, citing the group's news agency. Daesh has reportedly confirmed the death of its former leader.

The Daesh terrorist group also stated that Abu Hassan al-Muhajir, the group's previous spokesman, was killed in another raid after al-Baghdadi's death, reports say.

Daesh has also reportedly described Trump as "a crazy old man" and threatened the US that its followers would avenge al-Baghdadi's death.

Details on Death of al-Baghdadi

Earlier in the day, the US Defence Intelligence Agency confirmed the identity of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Daesh terrorist group, by comparing his remains to an old file sample taken from the time he spent in Camp Bucca in Iraq in 2004, Central Command (CENTCOM) Commander Gen. Kenneth McKenzie said during a press briefing. The United States buried the remains of al-Baghdadi at sea within 24 hours of his death, McKenzie said.

US President Donald Trump said that al-Baghdadi blew up himself and three accompanying children by detonating a suicide vest when he was trapped at the end of a tunnel.

"He died after running into a dead-end tunnel, whimpering and crying and screaming all the way", Trump stated, stressing that the terrorist "died like a dog".

Following the Daesh leader's death, Trump tweeted a photoshopped image of himself awarding a medal of honour to the military dog involved in the raid. He earlier "declassified' the dog, posting a picture of it on his Twitter account.

According to the US leader, the number one terrorist had been under the Pentagon's surveillance for quite some time before the conditions were ripe to eliminate him. However, Moscow reported earlier in October that it has not received official confirmation of the elimination of the Daesh leader.

Baghdadi made his first media appearance in 2014, when he declared himself the caliph of the worldwide Daesh terrorist group. Since then, there have been numerous reports with claims, albeit unconfirmed, that Baghdadi had been killed.

*Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS) is a terrorist group banned in Russia

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