On the morning of October 27, 2019 President Donald Trump announced that the leader of Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, had been killed overnight in a United States special forces operation. President Trump described how weeks of surveillance and several cancelled prospective operations had finally led to a daring raid on a compound in northern Syria. The operation ended with al-Baghdadi being chased into a tunnel complex in which he reportedly detonated an explosive vest, killing himself and three children. President Trump thanked Russia, Turkey, the Assad regime, Iraq, and Syrian Kurds for their cooperation and indicated that valuable intelligence had been collected during the raid. The coming weeks and months will attest to the operational value of such intelligence, which may offer the U.S. and its allies opportunities to disrupt Islamic State’s centrally coordinated operations, target other leaders across its transnational branches, and thwart Islamic State efforts to replenish and rebuild. With the territorial caliphate destroyed and its caliph dead, a new chapter in Islamic State’s history will be written in the coming weeks and months. It will be characterized by a struggle for legacy, leadership, and the global jihad.
Caliph Dead, Caliphate Destroyed, New Era Begins: Legacy, Leadership, & the Global Jihad
October 28, 2019
