American Special Operations forces carried out the mission to kill Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, but Russia, Turkey, and U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters in Syria each played key roles in the operation, President Trump said Sunday.
In a speech at the White House announcing al-Baghdadi’s death — a major foreign policy victory for the president and a serious blow to the terrorist group also known as ISIS — Mr. Trump said the U.S. raid relied on cooperation from Moscow and Ankara, even though neither nation had been given the details of the operation.
“Russia treated us great. They opened up, we had to fly over certain Russian areas, Russian-held areas,” the president said. “Iraq was excellent. We really had great cooperation. And you have to understand, they didn’t know what we were doing and where we were going exactly. But the ISIS fighters are hated as much by Russia and some of these other countries as they are by us.”
Mr. Trump also said Turkey was “terrific” in its assistance, and that U.S. forces flew over Turkish-held territory en route to al-Baghdadi’s compound in the Idlib province in northwestern Syria.
The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Mr. Trump said, also contributed valuable information.
“They gave us no military role at all but they gave us some information that turned out to be helpful, the Kurds,” the president said.
In a post on Twitter, SDF commander Gen. Mazloum Abdi said a “joint operation” resulted in the death of Baghdadi, and that the U.S. and SDF had been jointly tracking him for months.
“For five months there has been joint intel cooperation on the ground and accurate monitoring, until we achieved a joint operation to kill Abu Bakr al-Bagdadi,” he said. “Thanks to everybody who participate in this great mission.”
Mr. Trump has faced withering criticism for his decision earlier this month to withdraw most U.S. forces from Syria as Turkey launched a military assault against SDF forces.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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