Russia’s guarded praise over the killing of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

WASHINGTON/MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia offered guarded praise on Monday after President Donald Trump announced that US forces had killed Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, but world leaders warned that the fight against the terrorist group was not over yet.

Trump said on Sunday that Baghdadi had died “whimpering and crying” in a raid by US special forces in Syria, fulfilling his top national security goal.

Baghdadi, who had led the jihadist group since 2010, killed himself by detonating a suicide vest after fleeing into a dead-end tunnel as US forces closed in, Trump said in a televised address from the White House.

“He was a sick and depraved man and now he’s gone,” said Trump. “He died... whimpering and crying and screaming.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to say if the United States had told Russia about the operation in advance.

But he added: “If this information is confirmed we can talk about a serious contribution by the president of the United States to the fight against international terrorism.”

World leaders and security officials welcomed Baghdadi’s death but said the campaign against Islamic State was not over, with so-called lone wolves likely to seek revenge.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Baghdadi’s death was a major blow against Islamic State but “the fight continues to finally defeat this terrorist organization.”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “We will work with our coalition partners to bring an end to the murderous, barbaric activities of Daesh [Islamic State] once and for all.”

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters: “This is a many-headed monster... As you cut one off, another one inevitably arises.”

In Southeast Asia, an important focus for Islamic State, officials said security forces were preparing for a long battle to thwart the group’s ideology.

The Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, home to some of Asia’s most organized Islamists, said they were braced for retaliation by Islamic State loyalists, including “lone wolf” attacks by radicalized locals.

CAPABLE AND DANGEROUS

Though Baghdadi’s death will unsettle Islamic State, it remains capable and dangerous, said Delfin Lorenzana, defense secretary of the Philippines, where the group’s influence has taken a hold in its troubled Mindanao region.

“This is a blow to the organization considering Baghdadi’s stature as a leader. But this is just a momentary setback considering the depth and reach of the organization worldwide,” Lorenzana said. “Somebody will take his place.”

Islamic State has no declared successor as leader. But the group has in the past proved resilient, continuing to mount or inspire attacks in the region and beyond despite losing most of its territory in recent years.

Baghdadi had long been sought by the United States – which offered a $25 million reward – as leader of a jihadist group that at one point controlled large areas of Syria and Iraq, where it declared a caliphate.

Islamic State has carried out atrocities against religious minorities and attacks on five continents in the name of a fanatical version of Islam that horrified most Muslims.

In their long hunt for Baghdadi, Iraqi intelligence teams secured a break in February 2018 after one of his top aides gave them information on how he escaped capture for so many years, two Iraqi security officials said.

Baghdadi held strategy talks with his commanders in moving minibuses packed with vegetables in order to avoid detection, Ismael al-Ethawi told officials after he was arrested by Turkish authorities and handed to the Iraqis.

“Ethawi gave valuable information which helped the Iraqi multi-security agencies team complete the missing pieces of the puzzle of Baghdadi’s movements and places he used to hide,” one of the Iraqi security officials said.

Iraqi security officials said Kurdish intelligence agents had exchanged information with counterparts in Baghdad on the movements of Baghdadi and his aides in Syria. One of the Kurds’ sources passed on a “golden tip” earlier this year.

Suspicious movements were spotted by locals at house in a village in Syria, which was placed under surveillance and turned out to be the house used by Baghdadi, the Iraqi officials said.