Pentagon releases video of attack on al-Baghdadi compound
WASHINGTON _ The Pentagon released video footage of the weekend raid that led to the death of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, including attacks on fighters from the area surrounding the compound where the terrorist leader was hiding.
Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the head of U.S. Central Command, showed images of the American attack at the Pentagon on Wednesday, including the strikes on the fighters as well as U.S. forces approaching al-Baghdadi's compound. The site was about four miles (6.4 kilometers) from the Turkish border in Idlib province.
McKenzie, like other Pentagon officials, said he couldn't confirm President Donald Trump's graphic description of al-Baghdadi "whimpering and crying and screaming" when he was cornered.
"I'm not able to confirm anything else about his last seconds." McKenzie said. He said that al-Baghdadi detonated a suicide vest with two small children in the tunnel in which his body was found.
Al-Baghdadi was the highest-ranking terrorist leader targeted by U.S. forces since al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011 in a raid in Pakistan during the Obama administration.
_Bloomberg News
