US set for risky IS mission with leader’s death in Syria
Saturday’s raid that took the life of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi offered a preview of what’s to come for the slimmed-down, US-led fight against IS, officials and experts say, which is now set to focus extensively on targeting the group’s leaders from larger US bases in Iraq and American units in Syria.
The Donald Trump administration touted the US raid that took the life of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as “flawless” in execution, as elite Delta Force operators descending from Chinook helicopters trapped the Islamic State (IS) leader in his northwest Syria compound.
But Saturday’s raid, which Trump himself described as “dangerous and daring,” also offered a preview of what’s to come for the slimmed-down, American-led fight against IS, which is now set to focus extensively on targeting the group’s leaders from larger US bases in Iraq and using American units in Syria.
