Evidence seized ‘may help IS prosecutions’

Evidence seized by troops at Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s compound will hopefully help future prosecutions of those accused of “heinous acts” committed in the name of so-called Islamic State, a UN official has said.

US President Donald Trump confirmed on Sunday that al-Baghdadi ran into a dead-end tunnel and ignited an explosive vest, killing himself and three of his young children, after being surrounded by specialist forces.

He said the forces involved in the raid in north-western Syria had gathered “highly sensitive” material about IS.

Karim Asad Ahmad Khan, head of the UN’s investigative team to promote accountability for crimes committed by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, said he hopes evidence seized from al-Baghdadi’s compound will help with future prosecutions.

“I’m sure that some of the information, material, that has been seized by the troops that went in would be definitely relevant for our investigations and for building the cases for the many, many other individuals that are responsible for some of the heinous acts that were committed under the auspices of the so-called Islamic State,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Asked about the reality of obtaining evidence in a war zone that would be admissible in court, he said there are challenges but it is not impossible.

He added: “One of the peculiar aspects of Daesh is, in addition to the testimonial evidence of survivors and witnesses, and even in addition to those individuals that are currently detained, they had a penchant for documenting.

“And so there’s an awful amount of information that they themselves put on the internet, on social media, and also documented who was paid what for what services.”

Meanwhile, Downing Street said the government would continue to seek justice for foreign fighters in the region where their crimes took place, despite Mr Trump threatening to “drop them” at the UK border.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.