Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Like a coward WIPE OUT
Cornered ISIS leader forces three children into tunnel as U.S troops close in... then blows them all up No10 plotting to repatriate jihadi brides and kids
were burned.” In the White House, a triumphant Mr Trump said Baghdadi had been a “violent and vicious” man responsible for executing Christians in Libya and Egypt, and the mass murder of Yazidis. Baghdadi came to prominence in 2014 when IS had captured swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria. Mr Trump said: “He will never again harm another innocent man, woman or child. “He died like a dog. He died like a coward. The world is now a much safer place.” US forces had spent two hours in the compound and DNA tests gave “certain identification”, he said.
Mr Trump watched the operation live in the White House situation room, where his predecessor Barack Obama saw US forces killing al-qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in 2011.
Security experts now fear reprisals for the Baghdadi killing.
Richard Kemp, former head of international terrorism intelligence at the Cabinet Office, said: “When bin Laden was killed, al-baghdadi unleashed violent retaliation. Security services will now be braced for attempts to avenge his death.”
Baghdadi planned to hand over the leadership of IS to Abdullah Qardash. Qardash is known as a brutal but intelligent leader, and is nicknamed “The Destroyer” or “The Professor”.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab last night cautioned: “The death of Baghdadi is a significant milestone in the coalition’s work to defeat Daesh, but it is not the end of the threat.”
The brother of David Haines, the Brit executed by IS in 2014, said Baghdadi’s “poisonous ideology” lives on.
Mike Haines said: “We must continue to work together to identify and stamp out the threat.”
THE Government is secretly preparing to bring British Islamic State brides and their kids back from Syria, it is claimed.
There are an estimated 60 children with British origins in the region.
But despite No10 insisting they would not be taken back, it was revealed yesterday the Prime Minister and
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab have backed plans to repatriate the children.
It is believed the Ministry of Defence and the Home Office oppose the move.
A minister said yesterday: “The PM made a decision and we will all work some way to sort it but it is very difficult given the security situation.”
Another source said each child will be considered “on a case by case basis”.
PROPAGANDIST
Among women who could return is Londoner Tooba Gondal, 25, accused of being an IS recruiter and propagandist.
In a sign of preparations for a change in policy, Foreign Office officials have been seeking information from Gondal’s family in East London about her children Ibrahim, three, and Asiya, 18 months, to establish their nationality. Both were born in Syria to different fathers.
Police questioned one of Gondal’s relatives in the UK last week about her alleged recruitment activities for IS.
The move indicates detectives are trying to build a criminal case so she could be prosecuted upon her return.
The Government has so far refused the return of IS fighters and their families from Syria. In March, Shamima Begum was stripped of her citizenship. Her lawyers claim this was illegal and her case began last week at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission.