Daesh leader Baghdadi killed in US op in Syria: report

By Servet Gunerigok

WASHINGTON (AA) - The leader of the Daesh terror group, whose whereabouts have been unknown for a long while, is dead, according to U.S. news magazine, Newsweek.

Citing two anonymous sources from the Pentagon and the Army, it said the U.S. military conducted a special operation raid against Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Syria's northwestern Idlib province.

U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted "Something very big has just happened!" Saturday night, when the report said the operation concluded.

"Trump approved the mission nearly a week before it took place," said the report.

Baghdadi was killed in the raid, said Newsweek, citing a U.S. Army source who was briefed on the results of the operation.

"And the Defense Department told the White House they have 'high confidence' that the high-value target killed was Baghdadi but further verification is pending," said Newsweek.

The Pentagon source told Newsweek that Baghdadi was "dead pending verification."

As well, Trump will make a "major statement" at 9 a.m. Sunday, according to the White House.

The U.S. president "will be making a major statement tomorrow morning at 9 o’clock from the White House,” White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said in a statement.

That came shortly after Trump's tweet.

Baghdadi's whereabouts and status have been a mystery, and multiple claims have been made that he has been killed on various battlefields in Iraq and Syria.