Islamic State (IS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been killed in a raid led by US forces in Syria, President Donald Trump has announced.
Mr Trump made the announcement at a press conference from the White House and said US forces chased Baghdadi into a dead-end tunnel, before the terrorist detonated a vest, killing himself and three children.
Mr Trump said he watched most of the raid.
"The thug who tried so hard to intimidate others spent his last moments in utter fear, panic and dread, terrified of the American forces coming down on him," Mr Trump said in a televised address from the White House.
"He reached the end of the tunnel as our dogs chased him down. He ignited his vest, killing himself and his three children. His body was mutilated by the blasts. The tunnel had caved on him."
He also called Baghdadi a "sick and depraved man" who "died like a dog" while "whimpering, screaming and crying".
During the operation, US Special Forces soldiers spent two hours in the compound in Idlib province in north-western Syria.
No American personnel were injured, but a dog was wounded, Mr Trump said.
Under Iraqi-born Baghdadi's rule, Islamic State — which at one point controlled swathes of Syria and Iraq — was responsible for gruesome attacks against religious minorities on five continents in the name of a form of ultra-fanatical Islam.
Mr Trump said killing Baghdadi fulfilled the top national security priority of his administration and that he had been chasing the IS leader for three years.
A senior Iraqi security official told The Associated Press that Iraqi intelligence also played a part in the operation.
The death of Baghdadi comes weeks after Mr Trump’s sudden decision to withdraw US troops from Syria sparked a wave of harsh criticism, including from fellow Republicans, that the move would lead to a resurgence of IS.
Mr Trump is currently the subject of a widening impeachment inquiry launched by Democrats last month.
More to come.
