ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been killed in U.S. Raid

ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is believed to have
been killed in a raid conducted by the US military in northwest Syria on
Saturday, according to a senior US defense official and a source with
knowledge. The final confirmation is pending while DNA and biometric testing is
conducted, both sources tell CNN.
The defense official said it appears that Baghdadi
detonated a suicide vest during the raid.
The raid was carried out by special operations
commandos, a source familiar with the operation told CNN.
The CIA assisted in locating the ISIS leader, the
defense official said.
Newsweek first reported that Baghdadi was believed
to have been killed.
President Donald Trump is scheduled to make a major
announcement Sunday at 9 a.m., White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley
announced. An administration official tells CNN that the announcement is
foreign policy related.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a
request for comment.
Baghdadi, the leader of the terror group, has been
in hiding for the last five years. In April, a video was published by the ISIS
media wing al-Furqan that showed a man purporting to be Baghdadi. It was the
first time Baghdadi has been seen since July 2014, when he spoke at the Great
Mosque in Mosul.
In February 2018, several US officials said Baghdadi
had been wounded in an airstrike in May 2017 and had to relinquish control of
the terror group for up to five months because of his injuries.
Baghdadi became the leader of Islamic State of Iraq
(ISI) in 2010. In 2013, ISI declared its absorption of an al Qaeda-backed
militant group in Syria and Baghdadi said that his group will now be known as
Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS).
White House officials were at the White House late
Saturday evening in preparation.
One official told CNN the announcement will be in
the Diplomatic Reception Room.
Trump stoked speculation when he tweeted Saturday
evening "something very big has just happened!"