Donald Trump has shared a photo of the ‘wonderful dog’ who took part in the raid against ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The president announced the news of the terrorist leader’s death late last week in a statement from the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House.
US officials had been looking for al-Baghdadi for three years before the ‘dangerous and daring nighttime raid’, which reportedly saw the leader run into a dead-end tunnel before detonating his suicide vest and dying ‘like a dog’.
You can watch Trump make his statement here:
Trump said police dogs played a large part in the ISIS leader’s death, explaining:
He died after running into a dead-end tunnel, whimpering and crying and screaming all the way. They were led to certain death.
He reached the end of the tunnel as our dogs chased him down. He ignited his vest, killing himself and the three children. His body was mutilated by the blast.
In the aftermath of al-Baghdadi’s death, the POTUS took to Twitter to share a picture of one of the canines involved in the operation:
While the dog’s name has not officially been released, Newsweek reporter James LaPorta said several military officials claimed the dog’s name is Conan.
According to Luis Martinez, from ABC News, US officials also revealed the dog is a Belgian Malinois, the same breed which took part in the operation against Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in 2011.
Alongside the picture of the Belgian Malinois, Trump wrote:
We have declassified a picture of the wonderful dog (name not declassified) that did such a GREAT JOB in capturing and killing the Leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi!
Trump added the dog, who is part of the Army Delta force, received minor injuries during the raid. CNN report it is believed to have been injured from an electrocution, though according to Business Insider, Pentagon officials said the hardworking canine soon returned to duty, suggesting the dog was not too badly hurt.
Trump spoke further about the raid during his statement, explaining US intelligence services were able to scope out the ISIS leader ‘a couple of weeks ago.’
He went on to describe al-Baghdadi’s death in more detail, saying it should be used to send a message to his followers.
Trump said:
He was whimpering, screaming and crying, and frankly I think it’s something that should be brought out so that his followers and all of these young kids that want to leave various countries – including the United States – they should see how he died.
Though the president appeared to refer to multiple dogs during his statement about the raid, he has only shared a photograph of one.
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.