Saudi crown prince congratulates Trump on death of ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

Washington: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman on Monday (local time) congratulated US President Donald Trump on the successful operation that resulted in the death of Islamic States (ISIS) chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, said the White House.

"Today, President Donald J. Trump spoke with Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Crown Prince congratulated the President on the United States successful mission to bring ISIS founder and leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to justice," the White House said in a statement on Monday.

On Sunday, Trump had announced that Abu Bakr, the most wanted terrorist in the world, was killed in an operation launched by the US Army in Syria's Idlib province.

Speaking at a press conference, Trump confirmed the death of the IS chief and said that Baghdadi "died like a dog, died like a coward" in operation conducted by the US special forces in the Syrian province of Idlib.

Trump said that "al-Baghdadi died inside a tunnel with three of his children, whimpering and crying and screaming all the way."

Al-Baghdadi, the most notorious ISIS leader, had been in hiding for the last five years.

Back in April, al-Baghdadi appeared in a propaganda video a week after a series of bombings rattled Sri Lanka, in which more than 250 people were killed.

He first appeared in 2014 during a sermon at the Great Mosque in Mosul in Iraq. The speech marked the rise of the self-declared "caliphate" of the ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

The notorious ISIS leader had also periodically issued audio statements, with the last being in August 2018.

The US had earlier announced a reward of USD 25 million for information leading to al-Baghdadi's death or arrest.

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