President Trump on Sunday said military dogs chased Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi down a dark underground tunnel before he detonated a suicide vest that injured one of the dogs.
Al-Baghdadi, the ISIS leader who had a $25 million bounty on his head, died Saturday evening after U.S.-led forces raided his compound in northern Syria’s Idlib Province, where he was thought to be hiding.
Trump, who watched the operation from the White House Situation room as it played live, said the terrorist leader spent his final moments “crying, “whimpering,” and “screaming.”
“He reached the end of the tunnel, as our dogs chased him,” Trump told reporters late Sunday. “He ignited his vest, killing himself and the three children.”
He said neither the dogs nor the American soldiers died in the raid.
“Our ‘K-9,’ as they call it,” Trump said, “I call it a dog. A beautiful dog – a talented dog – was injured and brought back.”
One soldier assigned to Delta Force told the Washington Examiner, “The injury to the dog is an injury to one of us. These dogs are a special breed of courageous.” – READ MORE