U.S. Strike on Al-Baghdadi Built on Weeks of Syria Surveillance
- Trump and key officials watched the raid live at White House
- President gave order to proceed while at Camp David retreat
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Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was under surveillance for weeks and evaded “two or three” American strikes before blowing himself up as U.S. special forces stormed his northern Syrian hideout.
As described in unusual detail by President Donald Trump on Sunday, the final moves to eliminate a man he described as the world’s most-wanted terrorist took shape while the president was at the Camp David presidential retreat Saturday morning, and ended with him and top officials following the raid via live video at the White House.