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Conflict in Syria

US military kills IS terror group leader Baghdadi - report

The operation was conducted by the Joint Special Operations Command's Delta Team after "receiving actionable intelligence"

© U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Andrew Goedl via AP

WASHINGTON, October 27. /TASS/. The US forces believe that they killed leader of the Islamic State (terror group, outlawed in Russia) Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a special operation on Saturday, Newsweek magazine has reported.

The operation was conducted by the Joint Special Operations Command's Delta Team after "receiving actionable intelligence," sources familiar with the effort said.

A US Army official briefed on the results of the operation told Newsweek that Baghdadi had been killed in the raid. "The Defense Department told the White House they have "high confidence" that the high-value target killed was Baghdadi, but further verification is pending DNA and biometric testing," according to the report.

US President Donald Trump had approved the mission nearly a week before it took place, the report said. After the operation had concluded, the US leader tweeted: "Something very big has just happened!" The president is expected to make a "major statement" Sunday at 9:00 a.m., the White House announced later.

Fox News reported, citing a well-placed military source, that a "high value ISIS target," believed to be Islamic State mastermind Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was killed by US-led forces in Idlib.

Reports on al-Baghdadi’s killing have emerged in various mass media outlets in the past years, but were not officially confirmed.

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Syrian conflict

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