The Russian Ministry of Defense doubted that the United States destroyed the head of the Islamic State terrorist group * Abu Bakra al-Baghdadi. Earlier, a statement was made by the President of the United States, Donald Trump.

“The Russian Ministry of Defense does not have reliable information on the conduct by the US military in Turkey’s part of the Idlib de-escalation zone of the operation to regularly destroy the former leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,” Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defense, said.

They also emphasized that "the increase in the number of direct participants and countries that allegedly took part in this" operation ", as well as conflicting information about the details of its operation," raise well-founded questions and doubts about its reality and even more so in success. "

On Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. military was able to eliminate al-Baghdadi.

“The US has brought the number one terrorist to justice. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead, ”said the American leader.

According to him, the leader of the IG "died like a coward", activating a suicide belt while trying to escape through an underground tunnel from American special forces. The owner of the White House also said that at the time of the explosion, there were three children with him - they all died. Another 11 children were released. In addition, according to Trump, the US military also eliminated several militants, without suffering losses.

The head of state also said that the body of the terrorist was severely disfigured, however, the examination confirmed that it was al-Baghdadi.

“I want to thank the countries - Russia, Turkey, Syria and Iraq. I also want to thank the Syrian Kurds for the support they were able to give us in this very dangerous mission, ”said the American president.

Trump said that Russia allegedly provided the American helicopters on which the US troops involved in the operation moved the opportunity to fly through “territory controlled by it.” At the same time, Washington, according to the American leader, did not inform Moscow about its goals.

In addition, Trump in his speech noted that his administration decided not to inform Congress about the upcoming operation in order to prevent media leaks that could harm the US military.

The first reports that the US liquidated al-Baghdadi appeared on Saturday night when Trump posted on Twitter the news that “something very big happened.” Almost immediately, the White House press service announced the president’s appeal on Sunday. For the time left before it, a number of American media, citing sources in the Pentagon and the White House, said that al-Baghdadi was killed as a result of a special operation in the Syrian province of Idlib.

Turkish agency Anadolu said that the terrorist died near the village of Barisha. According to journalists, the operation lasted several hours, it involved eight helicopters and two drones. The bodies of seven people were allegedly found at the site of the operation, including one child and three women, Anadolu reports. The agency distributed a video from the scene of the explosion.

  • ISIS fighters
  • globallookpress.com

Need proof

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation said that they did not know anything about a certain “assistance” that Russia, according to Trump, allegedly rendered to the American military.

“We are not aware of any alleged assistance to the flight of American aviation into the airspace of the Idlib de-escalation zone during this operation,” Konashenkov said.

According to him, on October 26 and in recent days, no US air strikes have been recorded in the Idlib region.

The official representative of the Ministry of Defense also recalled that the entire territory of the Idlib de-escalation zone not controlled by the Syrian government is controlled and controlled by the Syrian branch of Al-Qaida ** - the terrorist group Jabhat al-Nusra *** .

“This group has always uncompromisingly destroyed ISIS and any of its representatives right on the spot as the main competitors for power in Syria. Therefore, a quiet stay in the territory controlled by Syrian Al-Qaeda, the former leader of ISIS, deserves at least some direct evidence from the United States or other participants in the operation, ”said Konashenkov.

The military department also indicated that after the final defeat of IS by the Syrian government army with the support of the Russian air forces in early 2018, the next “death” of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi no longer has any operational significance.

In turn, the Turkish Ministry of Defense announced an exchange of information with the US regarding the elimination of al-Baghdadi. True, the agency did not report what kind of information is being discussed.

  • Donald Trump
  • Reuters
  • © Kevin Lamarque

Consequences of elimination

Experts recall that this is not the first news of the death of al-Baghdadi. Since 2014, when this man declared himself the “caliph” of the “state” that the group created in northern Iraq, his death has been reported several times. For example, in 2015, a number of Arab media outlets reported that al-Baghdadi died during a raid by American aircraft.

A senior researcher at the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Boris Dolgov in an interview with RT drew attention to the fact that for the first time the death of the leader of ISIS was confirmed by the US president.

“The statement by the American leader is concretized, it is said where and under what circumstances the leader of ISIS was liquidated. Perhaps his words are true, although statements about the death of al-Baghdadi have been made before, ”the expert emphasized.

The destruction of al-Baghdadi is unlikely to affect the activities of ISIS, since the group has been liquidated, and the remaining sleeping cells now do not pose any significant threat, Dolgov said. At the same time, he added that in the future they can be activated again.

“It is important to note that the ideology of ISIS will remain and continue to do harm, regardless of who is currently leading the terrorists , ” he said.

The expert believes that the death of al-Baghdadi will not affect the situation in Syria and Iraq. Now in these countries, the IG has only conspiracy cells and disparate groups. Their activity does not depend on whether or not the group has a formal head, Dolgov is sure.

But on the domestic political situation in the United States, the liquidation of al-Baghdadi, if it really took place, will be affected, experts say.

“The United States has long been able to eliminate the head of ISIS. But the American leader decided to do it now amid bad news in order to increase his current rating, said Vladimir Bruter, an expert at the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Studies, in an interview with RT.

We are talking about the allegations against Trump, which were put forward by representatives of the Democratic Party. They believe that the American leader, taking advantage of his official position, tried to obtain compromising information from his Ukrainian presidential candidate Vladimir Zelensky on his rival in the election campaign, Joe Biden. For this, the Democrats are threatening to impeach the current head of the White House.

Trump's decision to withdraw American troops from the Kurdish-controlled areas of Syria also provoked a negative reaction in the United States. This move was criticized by both opponents of Trump in the Democratic Party, as well as some Republicans.

According to Bruter, the current task associated with raising his rating, Trump could well be solved by reporting the destruction of the leader of ISIS. However, the elimination of al-Baghdadi will not have a cardinal effect on the course of the election campaign in the United States, the expert said.

“The presidential election in the United States will be held in the fall of 2020, that is, in a year. During this time, much will happen and much will be forgotten, concluded Bruter.

* “Islamic State” (IG) - the organization was recognized as terrorist by decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of December 29, 2014.

** Al-Qaeda - the organization was recognized as terrorist by decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of February 14, 2003.

*** “Jabhat Fath al-Sham” (“Front al-Nusra”, “Jabhat al-Nusra”) - the organization was recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated December 29, 2014.