Villagers in Barisha (Syria) were startled on the 28’th of October, after there was shooting from helicopters for 30 minutes before U.S. troops became active on the ground. They said the helicopters fired missiles at two houses, flattening one. Baghdadi fled into a network of underground bunkers and tunnels that snaked through the compound, wearing a suicide vest and dragging along two of his children. As a military robot crept towards him and a dog was dispatched to subdue him, Baghdadi was confronted by a dead end. He ignited his suicide vest, killing himself and his children and causing the tunnel to collapse, according to Trump[1]. To get to Baghdadi’s remains, troops had to dig through debris. Lab technicians conducted an on-site DNA test and within 15 minutes of his death, they positively identified him. Trump said US troops remained in the compound for about two hours after Baghdadi’s death and recovered highly sensitive material about Islamic State, including information about its future plans. After the troops retreated, US fighter jets fired six rockets at the house, levelling it[2]. Just before 3.30am Syrian time, the fleet of choppers took off for the return journey to Iraq. Baghdadi’s remains were later disposed of at sea.
The above story was from The Guardian, where a video can be seen of the U.S. military operation against the notorious Abu Bakr al Baghdadi. Trump announced Baghdadi’s death by using the words; “He died like a dog!…”, making the public compare his speech to the one of former U.S. President Barack Obama and his announcement of the death of Osama bin Laden. According to The Guardian the head of US Central Command, General Kenneth McKenzie, said the bombing took place after all the attackers and survivors had been evacuated, and was carried out so that the compound near the Turkish border did not become a shrine. McKenzie was unable to confirm Trump’s claim that the Isis leader was “crying, whimpering” in the moments before his death.
But who was Baghdadi and what is the future of ISIS? Abū Bakr al-Baghdadi al-Qurayshi was the Iraqi-born leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). In June 2014, he was chosen caliph of ISIL by the Shura Council, who were representing those members of the Islamic State qualified to elect a caliph. Rising to prominence in ISIL after his detainment with Al Qaeda commanders at the American Camp Bucca in Iraq, Baghdadi would become directly involved in ISIL’s atrocities and human rights violations. These include the genocide of Yazidis in Iraq, extensive sexual slavery, organized rape, floggings, and systematic executions. He directed terrorist activities and massacres. He embraced brutality as part of the organization’s propaganda efforts, producing videos displaying sexual slavery and executions via hacking, stoning, and burning. Baghdadi himself was a rapist who kept several personal sex slaves. Al-Baghdadi later claimed that he was descended from the Quraysh tribe and therefore from Muhammad, although there was no evidence to back up his claim.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, contemporaries of al-Baghdadi describe him in his youth as being shy, unimpressive, a religious scholar, and a man who avoided violence. Ahmed al-Dabash, the leader of the Islamic Army of Iraq and a contemporary of al-Baghdadi who fought against the allied invasion in 2003, gave a description of al-Baghdadi that matched that of the Tobchi residents: “I was with Baghdadi at the Islamic University. We studied the same course, but he wasn’t a friend. He was quiet, and retiring. He spent time alone … I used to know all the leaders (of the insurgency) personally. Zarqawi (the former leader of al-Qaeda) was closer than a brother to me … But I didn’t know Baghdadi. He was insignificant. He used to lead prayer in a mosque near my area. No one really noticed him[3].” In 2004 he was captured near Fallujah by US forces and detained at Abu Ghraib and at Camp Bucca, a facility in southern Iraq where many former Abu Ghraib detainees were also held. His status was that of a “civilian internee”, which meant that he was linked to a terrorist group but had not been caught actively engaging in terrorist activities.
In prison, Baghdadi appears to have cut a somewhat innocuous figure and, failing to identify him as particularly dangerous individual, US guards released him. In prison, however, it seems that he had been radicalised by jihadists from al-Qaeda, and on his release he became a member of AQI. In 2015 Baghdadi transformed Isil from a battlefield force operating in Syria and Iraq into a transnational terrorist franchise killing civilians in more than a dozen countries around the world. Orchestrating attacks against soft targets – including sports stadiums, beach resorts and museums – Isil killed more than 1,200 civilians outside Iraq and Syria that year while luring a steady stream of recruits to the cause.
As for the successor of Baghdadi there are no information who he might be, but according The Guardian, General McKenzie said the U.S. is under no illusions it had destroyed Isis, and warned the group would try to take revenge; “They will be dangerous. We suspect they will try some form of retribution attack,” he said. “We don’t see a bloodless future because unfortunately this ideology is going to be out there.”
Meral Musli Tajroska – Psychologist, Expert on Violent Extremism and Radicalization and Activist for Gender Equality
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/28/visual-guide-to-the-raid-that-killed-isis-leader-abu-bakr-al-baghdadi
[2] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/28/visual-guide-to-the-raid-that-killed-isis-leader-abu-bakr-al-baghdadi
[3] https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/10948846/How-a-talented-footballer-became-worlds-most-wanted-man-Abu-Bakr-al-Baghdadi.html
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This project was funded in part through a U.S. Embassy grant. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed herein are those of the implementers/authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Government.
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