IS leader killed in US Special forces raid in Syria
US President Joe Biden. He said that a "terrorist threat to the world" was removed in a US special forces assault at the IS leader's Syrian hideout. PHOTO | AFP
President Joe Biden said Thursday that a "terrorist threat to the world" was removed when the head of the Islamic State blew himself up, as US special forces swooped on his Syrian hideout in an "incredibly challenging" nighttime helicopter raid.
Biden said he had ordered an assault by troops rather than an air strike in order to minimise civilian casualties, even though this meant "much greater risk to our own people." There were no US casualties.
