SAS troops were part of the plot to bring down ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, it has been claimed.
The officers took part in the mission to hunt and kill the commander after joining the US-led attack on his base in Syria.
It comes as the remains of Baghdadi were disposed of at sea after U.S. forces were able to confirm the ISIS leader’s identity using DNA samples taken from his underwear and blood.
Speaking last night, a source close to the operation revealed the UK’s ties to the mission.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s remains have been disposed of at seat after blowing himself up in his Syrian compound on Saturday after being cornered by US forces
SAS troops are believed to have taken part in the mission over the weekend, which had been led by the US. Stock image of troops above
‘The UK has an exchange deal which is long standing with the US special operations in Iraq, which mounted the mission.
‘No doubt lessons were learned from previous operations’, the source told the Mirror.
The Ministry of Defence tonight said that it was unable to comment on special forces operations.
Baghdadi blew himself up after being cornered by U.S. forces in a dead-end underground tunnel in his Syrian compound on Saturday.
His remains were then buried at sea, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army General Mike Milley, revealed on Monday. Osama bin Laden’s remains were also disposed of at sea when he was killed in Pakistan in 2011.
The daring raid on the compound where Baghdadi was hiding in Syria was the culmination of years of steady intelligence-gathering work – and 48 hours of hurry-up planning once Washington got word on where he would be.
His body was mutilated in the blast and U.S. troops had to dig through debris to reach his corpse. Soldiers conducted a DNA test using a small field kit to confirm his identity.
Osama bin Laden’s remains were also disposed of at sea when he was killed in Pakistan in 2011
The terrorist’s underwear and a blood sample were used to match his DNA, Syrian Democratic Forces (SFD) General Mazloum Abdi told NBC News.
U.S. soldiers used the DNA from samples to positively identify him from the remains found in the compound after the blast.
The U.S. Defense Department has been working to speed up the DNA testing process for instances like this.
When bin Laden was killed, U.S. forces had to send his remains off to an American lab in Afghanistan to confirm his identity via DNA.
Baghdadi’s DNA was confirmed to be a match within about 15 minutes, according to President Trump.
U.S. forces are now using DNA-readers that are small enough for soldiers to take into combat and use on the ground quickly – producing results within two hours. They weigh roughly 100 pounds and work like a traditional DNA laboratory system would.
The daring raid on the compound (above) where Baghdadi was hiding in Syria was the culmination of years of steady intelligence-gathering work – and 48 hours of hurry-up planning once Washington got word on where he would be
Al-Baghdadi, the leader of the so-called Islamic caliphate, blew himself up during the targeted attack on his lair in Syria’s Idlib province in the early hours of Sunday morning. His lair was in a village known for smuggling, and he arrived there 48 hours before the raid
The White House, in a statement, said Baghdadi was identified via both DNA tests and visual evidence.
Baghdadi’s head was reportedly still intact, which meant a bio metric facial-recognition scanner was used to identify him.
Trump said U.S. troops remained in the compound for about two hours after al-Baghdadi’s death and recovered highly sensitive material about the Islamic State group, including information about its future plans.
After the American troops retreated, U.S. fighter jets fired six rockets at the house, leveling it.
President Donald Trump said three previous attempts to capture the ISIS leader had been canceled because al-Baghdadi, who was under surveillance, had changed his mind about where he was going.
Trump watched the raid in real time from the Situation Room via a video link as troops blasted into the hideout and sent the most-wanted militant running the last steps of his life.
Trump said soldiers blasted a hole in the side of a building because they feared the entrance might have been booby-trapped. Al-Baghdadi fled into a network of underground bunkers and tunnels that snaked through the compound.
The stout, bearded militant leader wore a suicide vest and dragged along three children as he fled from the American troops.
Trump, happy to play up the drama, said that as U.S. troops and their dogs closed in, the militant went ‘whimpering and crying and screaming all the way’ to his death.
‘He reached the end of the tunnel, as our dogs chased him down,’ Trump said. ‘He ignited his vest, killing himself and the three children.’
Trump watched the raid unfold from the situation room. He was joined by National Security Advisor Robert C. O’Brien, Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of Defense Dr. Mark T. Esper and United States Army General Mark A. Milley