The United States military conducted an attack against Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in the Idlib province of Syria on October 27, 2019. The head of the Islamic State (I.S., ISIS, ISIL), Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, committed suicide after Delta Force soldiers surrounded him.
The task was in the hand of the U.S. 1st Special Operational Detachment ( (1st SFOD-D), famously known as The Delta Force, carried out operation. Delta Force is the United States Top Tier Special force.
Mission Objective
The operation was conducted after CIA agents confirmed al-Baghdadi’s possible location.
They planned the raid with the Joint Special Operations Command, also known as JSOC, which ended in the assassination of al-Baghdadi.
Supporting Delta Force was the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, another JSOC outfit (Airborne), better known as “Night Stalkers,” and operatives from the CIA’s Special Activities Division, which mainly recruits from former JSOC Special Mission Units.
The operation concluded an almost five-year search for al-Baghdadi, which began in April 2014 when he established the Islamic State caliphate in Mosul’s great mosque.
At least eight manned U.S. military helicopters have arrived in the Idlib province of northwest Syria, where the CIA agents believe they have discovered al-Baghdadi.
The al-Baghdadi was the intended objective of the undercover operation in the last stronghold of the country’s Islamist-dominated resistance. Over the past few years, this group has fought against ISIS.
The operators blew the holes in the bobby-trapped doors to gain access to the facility.
After the raid, shortly after the Delta Force operators entered the compound in Idlib’s Barisha village, there was a short firefight, and ISIS leader al-Baghdadi killed himself by setting off his suicide vest.
There were relatives there. Although no children were injured, two Baghdadi spouses were killed when their suicide vests detonated during the special operations raid.
Shortly after the Delta Force operators left the location, an airstrike destroyed the compound where al-Baghdadi was hiding.
That was done so the site wouldn’t become a shrine to the terrorist group’s infamous leader.
Identification of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was identified shortly after his suicide. On-scene Delta operators collected DNA and ran an expedited DNA test called a Rapid DNA test. The conclusion is confirmed a few days definitively following the operation.
The FBI describes Rapid DNA as “the fully automated (hands-free) procedure of creating a CODIS Core Loci STR profile from a reference sample oral swab.”
The “swab in – profile out” procedure involves the automated extraction, amplification, separation, detection, and allele calling of genetic material without the involvement of a human.
Official statement
In an official announcement, the Trump administration released more information on the raid on Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. He confirmed that no American servicemen were killed during the operation but did say that a K-9 search dog suffered minor injuries.
Upon detonating his suicide vest, al-Baghdadi was joined in death by at least two of his wives and three of his children. Trump lauded the brave soldiers who put themselves in harm’s way to keep the world safer.
The time spent in the helicopter to infiltrate and exfiltrate Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was less than two hours.
