The CIA has worked closely with its Iraqi and Kurdish counterparts in Iraq and Syria to locate ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi before the operation that killed him in the village of Barisha in Idlib, northern Syria, The New York Times reported.
The newspaper said that the arrest of one of al-Baghdadi's wives and interrogation last summer led to the operation, and pointed out that the information that identified the whereabouts of al-Baghdadi came after the arrest of a postman working for him and interrogation.
US President Donald Trump said in his White House speech today that Americans had received positive information about Baghdadi's presence about a month ago and that his whereabouts were determined about two weeks ago.
Trump also said that Russia had opened Syrian airspace in its areas of influence for US forces to launch the targeting of Baghdadi, but did not know the nature of the mission.
In his speech, he stressed the cooperation of Turkey, Russia, the Syrian regime and the Kurds in the process, and thanked them all.
The "Delta" team of the Joint Special Operations Command of the United States carried out the operation that killed Baghdadi, with the participation of eight US helicopters and drones launched from an air base in western Iraq.
A landing operation, according to the American version, was carried out near the site of the building where al-Baghdadi was with members of his family and several fighters.
A senior Pentagon official was quoted as saying that the operation was preceded by a brief exchange of fire as US special forces entered the site.Al-Baghdadi was spotted moving into a tunnel near the building before a clash erupted between the US force and fighters who were with al-Baghdadi, which ended in the bombing of the latter himself.
Ambulance teams completed their work in the house where the ISIL leader was believed to be living in the Barisha area, north of Idlib governorate, and recovered seven bodies from the rubble.
Al-Jazeera correspondent in Syria said that the ambulance teams worked for five hours until they managed to lift the rubble of the house, which was turned into rubble by the US bombing.