page_title: Death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
section_title: Casualties
hierarchical_section_title: Death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi / Aftermath / Casualties
caption_attribution_description: English: A declassified image of Conan that helped capture and kill Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS
context_page_description: On October 26–27, 2019, the United States conducted Operation Kayla Mueller, a military operation named after Kayla Mueller, that resulted in the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the then-leader and self-proclaimed "caliph" of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorist organization. The operation took place in the outskirts of Barisha, Idlib Governorate, Syria. According to General Kenneth "Frank" McKenzie, the United States Central Command commander who oversaw the operation, Baghdadi killed himself along with two children when he detonated a suicide belt while seeking to evade the U.S. forces during the raid.
context_section_description: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark A. Milley said during a Pentagon briefing that Baghdadi's corpse disposal "was handled appropriately", initially adding that Washington had no plans to release images of his death, but later showed footage of the raid during a briefing on October 30. Baghdadi was buried at sea and afforded Islamic rites, three anonymous U.S. officials told Reuters and a Pentagon source told AFP. An aide of Baghdadi, who handled logistics, was the other man killed according to Iraqi officials. United States secretary of state Mike Pompeo said that two wives of al-Baghdadi were also killed in the raid.
  Trump said no U.S. soldiers were injured, but Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said two had been lightly injured during the raid. An American Special Operations Military Working Dog (SOMWD), a male Belgian Malinois named Conan, who chased Baghdadi, was treated for his injuries and returned to work on October 28. During a news conference that day, Esper and Milley declined to identify him for security reasons; Trump released a declassified photograph of him later in the day. The dog was injured due to live electrical cables that were exposed, according to McKenzie.
  According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor, Delta Force killed nine people, including one child, two women and some high-ranking ISIL leaders. Baghdadi's suicide vest killed two more children, reportedly his own. The Americans captured two militants and rescued eleven children. General Frank McKenzie said six ISIL members, which included four women and another man asides from Baghdadi, were killed in the operation. The raid also killed about 10 to 15 members of other groups who engaged American forces.
  Delta also killed a local Guardians of Religion Organization commander, identified as Abu Muhammad al-Halabi, the owner of the house Baghdadi was staying at. An Iraqi intelligence official and Hisham al-Hashimi have stated to The Independent that Halabi was also a smuggler, which is why the ISIL head and his family utilized his services. The inhabitants of the village stated that he was a sheep seller, but rarely interacted with his neighbors. His other alias is believed to be Abu Mohammed Salama and his corpse was flown away by Delta Force after the raid according to Barisha's inhabitants. He, along with some other Hurras al-Din, members is also suspected to have been part of a pro-ISIL faction.
  Based on a receipt book of ISIL found by associates of former American intelligence official Asaad Almohammad, analysts have stated that Baghdadi was paying the members of the group in exchange for hiding him. According to the receipt book, ISIL paid at least $67,000 to them from early 2017 to mid-2018, including $7,000 in summer 2018 to prepare bases for ISIL fighters from "al-Khair province", hinting that they helped in smuggling ISIL members. Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi pointed to the fact that the two groups were enemies, citing a warning by Hurras al-Din to its members in February 2019 to avoid contact with ISIL and the latter issuing the similar statement about the former in July. However, Tamimi also said that some of the receipts might be fabrications, except the ones from March to July 2018 that he was shown.
caption: Conan, the American Special Operations Military Working Dog that chased after Baghdadi
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