The Pentagon also released video of airstrikes on a group of unknown fighters on the ground who opened fire on the helicopters that ferried US forces in for the assault on Baghdadi’s compound in Syria
The Pentagon on Wednesday, released a series of footages, depicting the complete US special forces raid that ended in the death of Islamic State (IS) chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Among the images released by the Defence Department was grainy black-and-white footage of US troops approaching on foot the high-walled compound in northwestern Syria where Baghdadi was holed up.
The compound was razed by the US forces after the raid, leaving it looking like “a parking lot with large potholes,” said Marine Corps General Kenneth McKenzie, commander of US Central Command. Releasing a few short videos of the strike, US Central Command Commander Gen Kenneth Mckenzie told reporters at a Pentagon news conference that after the raid, Baghdadi’s compound looked “pretty much like a parking lot with large potholes.” The compound was destroyed in a way to ensure that it would not become a shrine or memorable in any way. It’s just another piece of ground now, he said.
The isolated compound was located in Northwest Syria’s Idlib province
“We believe Baghdadi actually may have fired from his hole in his last moments. The other people that were engaged on the objective were behaving in a threatening manner with suicide vests approaching the raid force and that causes you to make some decisions, particularly when they don’t respond to Arabic language commands to stop, warning shots, and the progression of escalation that that our special operators are so very good at,” McKenzie said. Giving details of the operation, the American general said the US forces cleared significant debris from the tunnel and secured Baghdadi’s remains for DNA identity confirmation…
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