Two men believed close to the Islamic State’s top leadership were taken alive during the Saturday night US special forces raid which killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
“There were two adult males taken off the objective, alive,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley announced Monday during a Pentagon briefing. “They’re in our custody and they’re in a secure facility,” Milley added, without revealing the identity of the captives.
“While clearing the objective, US forces discovered al-Baghdadi hiding in a tunnel. The assault forces closed in on al-Baghdadi and ended when he detonated a suicide vest,” said Milley.
This also as The New York Times reports Monday that intelligence recovered from the raid “could reveal a trove of ISIS clues”. No doubt this includes the human intelligence potentially gathered through interrogations of the newly captured ISIS operatives, which could reveal details of Baghdadi’s last days and months.
The Times report said “confiscated documents and electronic records” were found at the site where Baghdadi was hiding, which should “shed critical light on how the Islamic State operated.” – READ MORE