Iraqi intelligence source: a special US squad that was assigned to hunt down bin Laden, is besieging Baghdadi in an area on the Syrian-Iraqi border
A source in the Iraqi intelligence revealed, that a special US military force has crossed into Syrian territory by road through the Kurdistan region of Iraq, last Thursday, accompanied by an armed unit of the Syria Democratic Forces, after receiving information indicating the presence of Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, in an area about 10 square kilometers within the province of Deir Al Zour near the borders with Iraq, specifically in the countryside of Deir Al Zour between the region of Al Baghouz and south and west of Al Saftana west, and the Albukamal desert, which connect Iraq to the east of Syria.
The Iraqi source suggested that the US special squad is the same as the one that was previously assigned to hunt down the leader of Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, that succeeded to kill him in 2011 in the town of Abbottabad in northeastern Pakistan.
According to the Iraqi source, the US squad was located inside a military base in the city of Arbil and moved to within the territory of Syria, the first time to enter there, and explained that “the information we have is that the US military wants Baghdadi alive, which may explain the entry of troops and the delay in resolving the entry of Kurdish militias to the remaining villages and small Syrian towns, although it can do so, with the availability of air cover”.
Commenting on Washington’s keenness to arrest Baghdadi alive, press sources considered that this may have something to do with the situation of US President Donald Trump, and his need for any accomplishment and a positive achievement in his favor in the US public opinion, in addition to the United States keenness to reach Baghdadi alive, is to obtain information and answers to questions that still vague, including the hidden thread in the organization’s dealings with other parties in the Syrian and Iraqi arenas.
The United States is at the forefront of the military front in the area where Baghdadi is likely to be present, so the talk of a Russian or Turkish role is incorrect, with expectations that the idea of reaching Baghdadi alive is very unlikely, in the light of conflicting information about his health and his fate that is filling the media for a long time, especially after the organization lost its entire areas of control in both Iraq and Syria, and if he remains alive there is the possibility of resistance or even blow himself up before anyone can get close to him in order to capture him.
