The US Department of Defense has released footage of the military deployment against IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Syria. Among other things, black and white video sequences show how American elite soldiers approach on foot the walled property in which Baghdadi hid.
Air raids on a group of fighters who shot the US helicopters are also on display. Photos also show the property before and after the US military deployment - the American forces had bombed the building with bombs at the end of the mission.
The property looked like a "parking lot with big potholes," said General Kenneth McKenzie, commander of US Central Command Centcom, at a US Department of Defense press conference. There he also gave more details about the mission.
Video of action against IS leader Baghdadi
Department of Defense / AP
For example, two children were killed when Baghdadi blew himself up with an explosives vest, not three, as US President Donald Trump previously said. According to the president, according to which the IS leader ran into a tunnel "whimpering and crying and screaming", the general did not confirm.
Baghdadi's identity has been proven beyond doubt by DNA samples, McKenzie said. The body of the IS leader was buried after identification at sea. This was done in accordance with martial law within 24 hours of his death.
Special forces of the US military had attacked a homestead in northwestern Syria in the weekend, in which Baghdadi hid. In addition to the IS leader, five other IS fighters have been killed and two people taken into custody, McKenzie said. It was a "difficult, complex and precise" attack.
Trump had announced Baghdadi's killing Sunday. After the leader of the terrorist militia "Islamic State" (IS), the US had searched for years, he was considered the most wanted man in the world. Baghdadi proclaimed a "caliphate" in Syria and Iraq in July 2014, in which several million people lived at times.