This archive report was first published on 28 October 2019.
Trump's Syria Troop Withdrawal Complicated Plans for al-Baghdadi Raid ¶
President Trump's decision to withdraw American troops from northern Syria earlier this month complicated the planning for the raid that ultimately led to the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Islamic State leader, according to intelligence officials.
For months, intelligence officials had been keeping Mr. Trump informed about the hunt for Mr. al-Baghdadi, who was the world's most wanted terrorist. However, Mr. Trump's withdrawal order disrupted the meticulous planning that was underway, forcing Pentagon officials to speed up the plan for the risky night raid.
Mr. al-Baghdadi's death in the raid on Saturday occurred largely in spite of, and not because of, Mr. Trump's actions, officials said. The planning for the raid began this past summer, when the Central Intelligence Agency first received information about Mr. al-Baghdadi's general location in a village deep inside a part of northwestern Syria controlled by rival Qaeda groups.
Armed with that initial tip, the C.I.A. worked closely with Iraqi and Kurdish intelligence officials in Iraq and Syria to identify more precisely Mr. al-Baghdadi's whereabouts and to put spies in place to monitor his periodic movements. The Syrian and Iraqi Kurds provided more intelligence for the raid than any single country, officials said.
On Saturday, eight American helicopters took off from a military base near Erbil, Iraq, and flew low and fast to avoid detection, crossing the Syrian border and then flying all the way across Syria to the Barisha area just north of Idlib city. The helicopters and other warplanes began firing on a compound of buildings, providing cover for commandos with the Delta Force and their military dogs to descend into a landing zone.
Mr. al-Baghdadi ran into an underground tunnel, with the American commandos in pursuit. The commandos dispatched a military dog to subdue Mr. al-Baghdadi, and it was then that the Islamic State leader set off the explosives, killing the three children he had taken with him, Mr. Trump said.
At 7:15 p.m. Washington time on Saturday, the Special Operations commander on the ground reported that Mr. al-Baghdadi had been killed. Five other 'enemy combatants' were killed in the compound, and 'additional enemies were killed in the vicinity,' the White House said.
