War on terror

Al-Baghdadi’s ‘number one replacement’ is dead, Trump says

U.S. troops have successfully taken down the top replacement for Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, according to President Donald Trump.

“Just confirmed that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s number one replacement has been terminated by American troops,” Trump tweeted Tuesday. “Most likely would have taken the top spot - Now he is also Dead!”

The Pentagon referred questions about the tweet to the White House, which did not immediately provide additional information when contacted by Military Times. The State Department also did not provide comment on the record to Military Times.

It’s unclear who Trump was specifically referring to, however, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday that ISIS’s spokesman Abu Hassan al-Muhajir was killed in a strike in northeast Syria. An anonymous U.S. official told the Journal that al Muhajir “would have been one of the potential successors” to al-Baghdadi.

Syrian Democratic Forces, the anti-ISIS coalition the U.S. has backed, also announced Sunday that al-Muhajir was dead. Mazloum Abdî, the commander of the SDF, said Sunday he “was targeted in a village named Ein al Baat near Jaraboul city, the mission was conducted via direct coordination of SDF Intel & US military.”