Baghdadi detonates a vest during the raid, killing himself and two children
Reporting and findings
- documented
CENTCOM reported that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi detonated an explosive vest as U.S. forces closed in, killing himself and two children; later Associated Press reporting preserves the corrected count of two children rather than Trump's initial count of three.
- United States Central Command: Department of Defense Press Briefing on the al-Baghdadi RaidCENTCOM casualty correction and raid outcome
- Associated Press: What is the Islamic State group and what attacks has it inspired?CENTCOM casualty correction and raid outcome
Summary and current status
CENTCOM corrected the first public count of children killed and documented the raid's fatal outcome separately from the authorization.
Baghdadi and two children died during the October 26, 2019 raid
People and organizations
- Abu Bakr al-Baghdadiperson who detonated the vest
- Donald J. Trumppresident directing the raid
- 2019 al-Baghdadi raid approvalraid during which the deaths occurred
Relationships in this file
- Donald J. Trumpdied during Trump-directed U.S. raidAbu Bakr al-Baghdadi
Figures
Children killed in vest detonation2 people Calculation details
- Basis
- Observed
- Population
- Children killed when al-Baghdadi detonated his vest during the Trump-directed raid
- Period
- 2019-10-26 to 2019-10-26
- Method
- Observed incident count stated by the CENTCOM commander after the initial presidential announcement gave a higher count; corroborated by Associated Press reporting.
- Uncertainty
- CENTCOM corrected the count and described the mechanism; the cited sources did not name the children.