Waiting for confirmation, there is nothing certain at the moment: a "senior terrorist leader" who could be Abu Bakr al Baghdadi was allegedly killed in a raid of US Special Forces in Idlib province (Idlib province!!) 
IF CONFIRMED – BIG IF – Abu Bakr al Baghdadi was killed circa five kilometers from the Turkish border (near Barisha) in a territory in a territory under the control of groups hostile to him
Interesting. Witnesses say there was a fight between the security detail of Abu Bakr al Baghdadi and the US Special forces, videos from there show men clearly killed in a firefight and big craters of bombs
This is interesting, but we are in the realm of speculation for now. A compound built in 2018, same site of the operation to (IF CONFIRMED – BIG IF) kill Abu Bakr al Baghdadi
Just to be clear, Idlib was hostile territory for sure but at this point there were no more non-hostile areas for Baghdadi. You really think Al Anbar or the Euphrate's corridor were more friendly and less dangerous for the leader of the Islamic State?
This would be consistent with past operations – US Special Forces trying to get Abu Bakr al Baghdadi without destroying the body because they need a positive confirmation
The network of the Islamic State in Idlib was (is?) strong. In August a local faction, HTS, claimed the killing of their "Wali of Idlib" Abu Abdu Shadid – the presence of a Wali (governor) means he leads at least a network of multiple cells
In May the same local faction HTS claimed the killing of the previous Wali of Idlib, Abu Suleyman al Iraqi (from Iraq and yet he was leading the activities in Idlib). Again: allegedly a "Wali". So, the Islamic State is there in Idlib and suffers losses like everywhere
imho (and if confirmed) the death of Abu Bakr al Baghdadi in Idlib so far from where people assumed he was (West Anbar, Eastern Syria) is exactly why he is the most longevous leader of the Islamic State, lasted more than the first (Zarqawi) and the second (Abu Umar al Baghdadi)
In a previous tweet about Abu Suleyman the alleged Iraqi Wali of Idlib killed in May I attached the wrong pic cause I'm going fast – sorry, this is the right one
Here says that HTS men (yep, the former Nusra-and -former Syrian branch of the Islamic State) knew Abu Bakr al Baghdadi was in their area and were looking for him. Also says Haji Abdullah aka Abu Abdullah al Hasani aka Abu Sa'id al Iraqi was there with him (I don't think so)
I don't think so because Haji Abdullah allegedly was the designated guy to replace Abu Bakr al Baghdadi and you don't put all your eggs in the same basket. Understandably lot of confusion now
Before assuming A Baghdadi was about to be smuggled into Turkey I'd suggest caution. Islamic State's network in idlib has always been strong in that border area. On the other hand, a huge military offensive is looming – chaos and thousands of people fleeing are expected there
Very curious to know how Abu Bakr al Baghdadi got there in Idlib, crossing guarded borders from East to West. I'd go for the southern route, the red area, but we simply don't know for now
Of course we are going to be buried under conspiracy theories and garbage but that's the new normal we are going to muddle through this thing
Turkey and SDF both claim they provided decisive intel about Abu Bakr al Baghdadi (Turkey more specific, they claim they already knew Baghdadi was in Idlib two days ago and they got a warning about the imminent US raid)
This after years of "Abu Bakr al Baghdadi sleeps in a different place everynight"
Ten seconds to go
Surveillance for the last 2 weeks, so tight they knew when Abu Bakr al Baghdadi changed his mind and deleted plans. The safe house: door was booby-trapped, different tunnels. Only one tunnel is an actual exit. Baghdadi detonated himself in a dead-end tunnel with three children
"They had lots of DNA, more than they wanted… They brought back pieces". The end of Abu Bakr al Baghdadi as told live on tv by Trump
