An ISIS defector who allegedly assisted U.S. forces in the raid that killed terrorist leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is expected to receive some or all of the $25 million bounty put on al-Baghdadi by the U.S. government, reported the Washington Post, citing U.S.- and Middle East-based officials.
According to an unnamed official, the informant is a Sunni Arab who turned against ISIS after the terrorist group killed one of his relatives. He was withdrawn from the region, along with his family, two days after the Oct. 26 raid, the newspaper reported.
The man, who has not been named, reportedly took part in the construction of al-Baghdadi’s compound in Idlib, Syria, and knew where the terrorist leader was hiding, leading U.S. forces to his specific location that ended when al-Baghdadi ran into a dead-end tunnel, taking three of his children with him and detonating a suicide belt, killing him and the children.
President Donald Trump confirmed the death of al-Baghdadi on Sunday and said DNA testing was immediately carried out to confirm his identity.
“They blasted their way in, and then all hell broke loose. It’s incredible nobody was killed. Or hurt. We had nobody even hurt,” Trump said. “And that’s why the dog was so great.”
No one on the U.S team was hurt except a military dog who suffered a minor wounds, but that dog has since recovered and returned to duty, Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Monday. Trump later released a photo of the dog, a Belgian Malinois.
The defector reportedly helped al-Baghdadi move from compound to compound in Idlib, which is about four miles from the Syria-Turkey border, and would take the terrorist leader’s family members to get medical care when needed, the Post reported. He also allegedly told the officials that al-Baghdadi “always wore a suicide belt so he could kill himself if cornered.”
One official called the defector “extraordinarily well-placed,” according to the Post.
The killing of the top leadership will be devastating to ISIS, said Defense Secretary Mark Esper.
“This is a devastating blow. This is not just their leader, it’s their founder. [Al-Baghdadi] was an inspirational leader in many ways. He formed ISIS in 2014, he led to establishing the physical caliphate throughout the region, so this is a major blow to them,” Esper told CNN on Sunday.
Neither the Pentagon nor the White House has publicly commented on the alleged informant.