British SAS heroes ‘took part in hunt and kill mission that saw ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi blow himself up’
ELITE SAS troops took part in the daring raid to hunt down and kill ISIS boss Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, according to reports.
American special forces descended on the terror chief’s Syrian bolthole on Saturday night, where he was hiding after the fall of the “Caliphate”.
Donald Trump said the cowering killer died “crying, whimpering and screaming” along with eight of his henchmen after soldiers blasted their way into his compound in Idlib province.
And super troopers from the elite British unit also took part in the dramatic shootout, reports.
A source told the paper: “The UK has an exchange deal which is long standing with the US special operations in Iraq, which mounted the mission.
“No doubt lessons were learned from previous operations.”
The MoD cannot confirm or deny the presence of SAS soldiers in the raid, as it does not comment on Special Forces operations.
Eight choppers swooped on the terror compound over the weekend, ferrying the commandos to their target.
US aircraft, mostly twin-rotor CH-47 helicopters, had taken off from Al-Asad air base in western Iraq – with villagers noticing the helicopters hovering low on the horizon.
Mr Trump explained: “We flew very, very low and very, very fast. It was a very dangerous part of the mission.”
An unidentified resident told the Associated Press: “We went out in the balcony to see and they started shooting, with automatic rifles. So we went inside and hid.”
Next came a large explosion that Mr Trump – watching the action unfold in the White House Situation Room – said was the result of soldiers blasting a hole in the side of a building because they feared the entrance might have been booby-trapped.
Hearing the soldiers enter his compound, a startled Baghdadi fled into a network of underground bunkers and tunnels that snaked through the compound.
The stout, bearded militant leader wore a suicide vest and dragged along three children as he ran from the American troops.
He ignited his vest, killing himself and his three kids.
Trump said: “The thug who tried so hard to intimidate others spent his last moments in utter fear, in total panic and dread, terrified of the American forces bearing down on him.”
No US personnel were killed and 11 children were rescued in the operation.
Baghdadi – who had led the murderous cult since 2010 when it was still an underground al-Qaeda offshoot in Iraq – had been the subject of an international manhunt for years and had a £19.4m ($25m) bounty on his head.
He was tracked down after a hero spy stole his underpants to identify him by his DNA and gave a room-by-room layout of his hideout.
The families of British terror victims have congratulated US special forces, saying “good riddance” in the wake of Baghdadi’s death, as his fanatics were behind the bombing of a Manchester gig by Ariana Grande, and inspired the 2017 London Bridge attack.
The terror group’s new leader has been named as feared ex-Saddam henchman Abdullah “The Professor” Qardash.
Trump now accused of giving away secret US tactics following Baghdadi raid
Donald Trump has been accused of giving away secret special ops info by bragging about how his forces helped take down Baghdadi.
The US president went into great detail to reveal exactly how the ISIS leader was killed during a well-planned military operation in Syria.
“When we landed with eight helicopters, a large crew of brilliant fighters ran out of those helicopters and blew holes into the side of the building,” Trump said.
He revealed US forces had a detailed knowledge of the tunnel network and his perspective of the raid from the White House was “like watching a movie.”
Trump then mapped out part of the dangerous route taken by the airborne special forces to the terrorist’s hideout in northwestern Syria.
He said the aircraft traveled “very low and very fast,” took 70 minutes, crossed territory held by Russia, and encountered enemy fire.
However, Michael Leiter, former director of the US National Counterterrorism Center, said his revelations could come back to haunt the US.
He said: “Talking about how many aircraft, where the aircraft are flying in, how they’re breaching a building, other technology they can bring to bear, knowledge about the tunnels and the mapping of those tunnels, these are operational details which are only about preening.”
Others said the president provided clues on how al-Baghdadi was located, specific details on the network of tunnels into which he fled, and information about how they accessed the building.
