• Strike took place in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province and was carried out by special operations forces after receiving actionable intelligence

The US Army has killed a “high-valued target” believed to be Daesh leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, Newsweek and Fox News reported on Sunday, citing a top US Army official.

Newsweek said the operation took place in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province and was carried out by special operations forces after receiving actionable intelligence. It added there was a brief firefight when US forces entered a compound in Idlib’s Barisha village and that Baghdadi then killed himself by detonating a suicide vest.

US President Donald Trump was to make a ‘major statement’ at the White House on Sunday morning, the official said.

Iraqi state television posted a video it says is of the US raid in Syria, during which it is believed Baghdadi was killed.

Biometric work underway to firm up the identification of those killed in the US special operations forces raid in in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province: US mediahttp://bit.ly/2Wh1xEF 

Iraqi state television has posted a video it says is of the US raid in Syria, during which it is believed Baghdadi was killed.

White House spokesman Hogan Gidley announced late on Saturday that Trump would make a “major statement” at 9a.m. EST (1300 GMT) on Sunday.

Gidley gave no further details as to the topic of Trump’s statement.

Something very big has just happened!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 27, 2019

The official did not disclose details of the operation and other US officials contacted by Reuters declined to comment. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Iraq was informed by sources in Syria that Daesh leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi has been killed, two Iraqi security sources told Reuters on Sunday.

“Our sources from inside Syria have confirmed to the Iraqi intelligence team tasked with pursuing Baghdadi that he has been killed alongside his personal bodyguard in Idlib after his hiding place was discovered when he tried to get his family out of Idlib toward the Turkish border,” said one of the sources.

On Saturday, US President Donald Trump had tweeted without further explanation, “Something very big has just happened!”

Al-Baghdadi led Daesh for the last five years, presiding over its ascendancy as it cultivated a reputation for beheadings and attracted hundreds of thousands of followers to a sprawling and self-styled caliphate in Iraq and Syria.

He remained among the few Daesh commanders still at large despite multiple claims in recent years about his death and even as his so-called caliphate dramatically shrank, with many supporters who joined the cause either imprisoned or jailed.

With a $25 million US bounty on his head, Al-Baghdadi had been far less visible in recent years, releasing only sporadic audio recordings, including one just last month in which he called on members of the group to do all they could to free Daesh detainees and women held in jails and camps.