Footage released by US Central Command of the raid on ISIS leader's compound. Photo / Supplied
Footage released by US Central Command of the raid on ISIS leader's compound. Photo / Supplied
Four female terrorists were among those killed by US Special Forces in Saturday night's raid that resulted in the death of Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Pentagon says.
The head of US Central Command, General Frank McKenzie, addressed a media conference in Washington DC on Wednesday where he walked reporters through the first declassified footage and revealed new details of the daring operation in northwestern Syria.
Gen. McKenzie said al-Baghdadi was the subject of an "intense inter-agency effort to bring him to justice, and that effort significantly advanced recently as we closed in on his whereabouts".
Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Photo / AP
"As it became clear that we had gained fleeting and actionable intelligence on his hide-out, we developed an execution level plan designed to capture or kill him and started preparing a special operations team for the mission," he said.
"The general outline of the mission was a helicopter assault by Special Operation Forces that were pre-staged in Syria. I can assure you that the plan was significantly more complex than that, and designed to avoid detection by Isis and others prior to and during execution, to avoid civilian casualties."
The black-and-white aerial video shows an attack helicopter bombardment on Baghdadi's compound just outside the village of Barisha in Idlib province in northwest Syria, before around nine members of the assault force move in.
The compound of Isis leader al-Baghdadi. Photo / AP
"At the compound, fighters from two locations in the vicinity of the compound began firing on US aircraft participating in the assault. These fighters opened fire on our aircraft and what you see in the video is the actual response," Gen. McKenzie said.
"With the assault force surrounding the compound, we repeatedly urged those inside to come out peacefully. Those who came out of the building were checked for weapons and explosives, and moved away from the immediate area. US forces detained and later released the non-combatants."
Gen. McKenzie said the group, which included 11 children, was "treated humanely at all times". "I want to make it clear that despite the violent nature of the raid and the high-profile nature of this assault every effort was made to avoid civilian casualties and to protect children we suspected would be at the compound," he said.
"Five Isis members inside the compound presented a threat to the force. They did not respond to commands in Arabic to surrender, and they continued to threaten the force. They were then engaged by the raid force and killed. There were four women and one man."
Gen. McKenzie said al-Baghdadi's remains were later "buried at sea in accordance with the law of armed conflict within 24 hours of his death".
Gen. McKenzie said once they entered the compound, US forces discovered al-Baghdadi "hiding in a tunnel". "When capture at the hands of US forces was imminent, Baghdadi detonated a bomb he wore, killing himself and two young children who were with him," he said.
The US had earlier said that three children were killed, but Gen. McKenzie said "we now know the number to be two based on subsequent debriefing". "A total of six Isis members died on the objective," he said. "Four were women, and there were two men including Baghdadi."
Two men were detained by US forces. "After Baghdadi's murder-suicide our assault force cleared significant debris from the tunnel and secured Baghdadi's remains for DNA identity confirmation, which were flown with the assault force back to the staging base."
Gen. McKenzie said al-Baghdadi's remains were later "buried at sea in accordance with the law of armed conflict within 24 hours of his death".
He added that US forces secured a "substantial" amount of documentation and electronics from the compound. "After our forces were safely off the objective, US forces deployed precision stand-off munitions to destroy the compound and its contents," he said.
Image from video released by the Department of Defense. Photo / AP
He also gave an update on the wounded military dog that chased al-Baghdadi into the tunnel, a Belgian Malinois reportedly named Conan. US President Donald Trump earlier tweeted a Photoshopped image of himself awarding the dog a medal, writing, "AMERICAN HERO!"
"US Special Operations Command working dogs are critical members of our forces. These animals protect US forces, save civilian lives, separate combatants from non-combatants and immobilise individuals who express hostile intent," Gen. McKenzie said.
"This dog is a four-year veteran of the SOCOM canine program and has been a member of approximately 50 combat missions. He was injured by exposed live electrical cables in the tunnel after Baghdadi detonated his vest beneath the compound. He has been returned to duty."
The Pentagon briefing came after a US counter-terrorism said he expected a new ISIS leader to emerge after al-Baghdadi's death and warned the extremist group's planning of major attacks probably will go on as before.
"The ideology continues, the resonance continues, and that is a strategic concern for us," Russell Travers, the acting director of the National Counter-Terrorism Centre, said at a congressional hearing on global threats.
Mr Travers says the killing of Baghdadi by US forces in Syria on Saturday was a "significant" development. But he says that Isis, which once controlled a large swath of Iraq and Syria, has a "deep bench" of figures who could replace al-Baghdadi.
Just confirmed that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s number one replacement has been terminated by American troops. Most likely would have taken the top spot - Now he is also Dead!
On Tuesday, Mr Trump tweeted that the "number one replacement" of al-Baghdadi had been killed by US troops. He did not name the person but it's believed he was referring to Abu Hassan al-Muhajir, the "right-hand man" who also served as a spokesman for the terror group.
Head of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, General Mazloum Abdi, announced his death on Sunday, saying al-Muhajir was targeted in a village near Jaraboul city.
"He was killed very close to the North East, very close to the Euphrates River … he was killed by US Forces," a State Department official told Fox News.
