U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that the fugitive leader of the Islamic State group is dead,... killing himself and three of his children during a U.S.-led military operation in Syria.
The following day,... Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's right hand man was also killed in a U.S. strike.
Our Lee Seung-jae has more on the death of al-Baghdadi - a major victory for President Trump as he faces heavy criticism for his decision to pull U.S. troops out of northern Syria and fights an impeachment inquiry launched by Democrats.
Speaking at the White House on Sunday in a televised address to the nation,... U.S. President Donald Trump announced that a U.S.-led attack in Syria prompted to the world's most wanted man, Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, to detonate his suicide vest,... after fleeing into a tunnel.... ultimately killing himself.
""Last night the United States brought the world's number one terrorist leader to justice. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead. He was the founder and leader of ISIS, the most ruthless and violent terror organization anywhere in the world. The United States has been searching for Baghdadi for many years. He died after running into a dead-end tunnel, whimpering and crying and screaming all the way."
President Trump added that U.S. Special Forces suffered no losses during the raid,... and he thanked Russia, Turkey, Syria and Iraq for their support.
Following the announcement,... French President Emmanuel Macron said al-Baghdadi's death is a hard blow for the Islamic State,... but just a stage in the fight against the terror group.
He added that the fight is France's top priority in the Middle East.
Al-Baghdadi has long been regarded as the world's most wanted man,... with a 25-million dollar bounty on his head,... and he has been pursued by the U.S. and its allies since the rise of the terrorist group some five years ago.
At its peak,... the Islamic State under his leadership,... controlled 88-thousand square kilometers of territory stretching from western Syria to eastern Iraq.
The following day,... al-Baghdadi's right hand man and ISIS spokesman,... Abu al-Hassan al-Muhajir was also killed into a joint raid between Kurdish-led and U.S. forces in northern Syria.
Kurdish officials said the raid was a continuation of the previous operation that took out al-Baghdadi.
While the deaths of the top two ISIS leaders deals a significant blow to the terrorist group,... security experts believe the extremist organization remains a global threat.
Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.