Members of Delta Force and Army 75th Ranger Regiment elements conducted an historic, daring nighttime raid in Northwest Syria. The mission: kill or capture Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. And with the help of the now famously declassified dog known as Conan, U.S. Special Forces killed the infamous founder and leader of ISIS.
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Declassified Dog Hunts Terrorist
“Last night was a great night for the United States and for the World,” President Donald Trump said in an issued statement. “A brutal killer, one who has caused so much hardship and death, was violently eliminated — he will never again harm another innocent man, woman or child. He died like a dog. He died like a coward. The world is now a much safer place.”
While the lion’s share of the credit rest with the Special Forces soldiers, a trained K-9 played a critical role as well. The Belgian Malinois, identified Thursday morning as Conan, chased the terrorist leader deep into a tunnel. From there, al-Baghdadi cowardly detonated a suicide vest, ending his reign of terror.
“We have declassified a picture of the wonderful dog (name not declassified) that did such a GREAT JOB in capturing and killing the Leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi!” Trump wrote, according to washingtonpost.com. “Our canine, as they call — I call it a dog, a beautiful dog, a talented dog — was injured and brought back.”
Conan will reportedly head to the White House “sometime next week,” according to a Tweet from Trump.
Baghdadi Killed in Tunnel
The kill mission ends the reign of the ISIS leader reportedly responsible for countless murders and actions in the region. An heir to Al Qaeda, ISIS, under Baghdadi’s watch, killed Americans Jim Foley, Steven Sotloff, Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller. ISIS committed public executions, forced religious conversions and brought untold violence to the Middle East. Now, thanks to SOCOM and its high-speed pooch, Baghdadi is dead.
“No U.S. personnel were lost in the operation, while a large number of Baghdadi’s fighters and companions were killed with him,” Trump said. “He died after running into a dead-end tunnel, whimpering and crying and screaming. The compound had been cleared by this time, with people either surrendering or being shot and killed. Eleven young children were moved out of the house un-injured. The only ones remaining were Baghdadi in the tunnel, who had dragged three children with him to certain death. He reached the end of the tunnel, as our dogs chased him down. He ignited his vest, killing himself and the three children. His body was mutilated by the blast, but test results gave certain and positive identification.”
