The United States’ military has published the first set of images of the raid in northern Syria in which Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State (IS) group, was killed.
The video showed troops firing at militants on the ground as they flew towards the compound where was hiding before they moved in on the ground.
Baghdadi fled into a tunnel and killed himself by detonating a suicide vest.
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After the raid, the compound was destroyed with munitions by US special forces.
The US President, Donald Trump, had previously said he may authorise a partial release of the video showing how the raid occurred.
General Kenneth McKenzie, head of US Central Command, said the destroyed buildings were left looking like “a parking lot with large potholes”.
He also said two children had died with Baghdadi in the tunnel – not three as previously announced by President Trump.
“About Baghdadi’s last moments, I could tell you this. He crawled into a hole with two small children and blew himself up while his people stayed on the ground. You can deduce what kind of person it is based on that activity.
“That would be my empirical observation of what he did. I’m not able to confirm anything else about his last seconds. I just can’t confirm that one way or another,” the top US military officer said at a press conference at the Pentagon on Wednesday.
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McKenzie said four women – who were wearing suicide vests – and one man were killed at the compound.
He confirmed that the IS leader was identified through his DNA – adding that samples had been on file since Baghdadi’s detention in an Iraqi prison in 2004.
He said Baghdadi’s remains were flown back to a staging base for identification and were then buried at sea within 24 hours of his death “in accordance with the laws of armed conflict”.
The general also provided details about the dog that pursued Baghdadi into the tunnel.
He said it was a four-year veteran of 50 combat missions and had been injured by exposed live cables in the tunnel, but has returned to duty.
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