Al-Baghdadi's final moments: Helicopter gunfires, elite troops and well-trained dogs pushed IS leader to corner where he blew himself up
In 2011, when American forces nailed a hiding Osama bin Laden in Pakistan’s Abbottabad, a similar sensationalism was witnessed. That was Operation Neptune Spear ordered by then president Barack Obama. More than eight years later, Obama’s successor Donald Trump got an opportunity to match him when US forces saw the end of yet another terrorist leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of the Islamic State (IS). President Trump announced on Sunday, October 27, the death of al-Baghdadi and he spoke with a lot of disdain while confirming the news: “He died like a dog”.
But how did the operation, which was named after former humanitarian worker Kayla Mueller, go?
It all started shortly after midnight when the local people in the remote village of Barisha in northwest Syria heard sound of rotor blades coming down from the dark sky. Soon after, the approaching military forces started spraying bullets.
US troops' sudden descent from sky left IS clueless
For the IS foot soldiers who generally are stubborn even when the chips are down, this sudden descent of the enemy from above was surprising. Even with automatic weapons, the IS soldiers were baffled by the surprise factor. As the helicopters continued to create a cover of fire, the elite Delta Force commandos and Rangers personnel slipped into the self-styled caliph’s compound located on the edge of the village in the Idlib province. The net was closing on the world’s most-wanted man. The American forces were prepared to take on all sorts of resistance, including suicide attacks. The 70-strong squad featured highly trained dogs and a robot capable of nullifying suicide attacks. The target was clear: either capture or kill al-Baghdadi.
It was not an easy mission for the American helicopters that travelled some 500 miles after leaving Iraq and passed through Syrian, Turkish and Russian air spaces. Given the current tensions between Washington and other powers in the Middle East, the entry of the helicopter squad — featuring Chinooks and Black Hawks — could have been counter-productive. But the US leadership did well in notifying all quarters about the impending mission though the final target was never revealed.
Trump watched mission real-time, like an action movie
Back in the White House, President Trump just came back from a round of golf to have a real-time look at the operation on Saturday evening, something he likened later to “watching a movie”. The helicopters took off once Trump found himself settled at the White House’s Situation Room, alongside his administration’s top generals and security officials. The mission took effect four days after the president gave the nod.
In Barisha, the approaching soldiers made their own way forward by creating holes on the wall of Baghdadi’s bastion with blows after apprehending that the front door could be booby-trapped. In the fight that followed, the forces neutralized a number of fighters and companions of the IS leader, reported the Daily Mail.
It was said that someone asked Baghdadi in Arabic to surrender to the advancing army, which was clinical in its approach to clean up the terror chief’s den, the report added.
Baghdadi was in no mood to oblige
Baghdadi ran till there was no more place to run. He kept on retreating, drawing the Delta Force personnel with him. In the process, 11 children were rescued and many IS warriors surrendered. For Baghdadi, the end was near though. After the den was emptied by the forces, the troops and their dogs ran after Baghdadi and he went inside an underground tunnel with three children. It was a dead end and Baghdadi was cornered.
The troops sent in the dogs and sensing it was all over for him, Baghdadi detonated his suicide vest, killing himself along with the three young hostages. Much of the tunnel collapsed on them as a result of the explosion. Trump, later said: “The thug who tried so hard to intimidate others spent his last moments in utter fear, in total panic and dread."
Not much of the terrorist was left after the blast, but may be enough to conduct a DNA test. Back in the Situation Room, it was announced on radio: “100 per cent confidence Jackpot. Over.”
Jackpot could be the codename of Baghdadi and it was a repetition of the 2011 mission when Osama was given the same name.
Delta Force took all they found on way back
The Delta Force personnel took everything that they found on their way back — computers, mobile phones, papers — things that could help the American military and intelligence establishments to track and nail other IS leaders and sympathizers. After the operation that last two hours, the troops were flying back from Syria, a country that the US largely exited recently to allow Turkey to launch offensives against Washington's old allies Kurds. Nine people were killed in all in the mission.
The Americans also did not forget to reduce Baghdadi's den into a heap of rubble through drone attacks.