A well-placed informant who led the United States to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi’s hideout in Syria is expected to receive some or all of the $25 million bounty placed on the most-wanted terrorist’s head by the Americans.
The mole, an Islamic State defector who facilitated Baghdadi’s movement’s around Syria and knew the layout of his Syrian safe house, was present during the raid on the compound, according to the Washington Post. At times, he brought members of Baghdadi’s family to the doctor.
He and his family were exfiltrated from the region two days after Baghdadi detonated a suicide vest when he was cornered in an underground tunnel. The mole disclosed that Baghdadi always traveled with a suicide vest so that he would kill himself if needed.
The man’s nationality has not been revealed, but one official said he was a Sunni Arab who turned against the Islamic State because one of his relatives had been killed by the terror group.
He had been recruited as an asset by the Syrian Democratic Forces and handed over to U.S. intelligence operatives, who spent weeks vetting him, officials said.
“It was assessed for quite a while that the person might have the key to the lock,” one U.S. official familiar with the matter said. “That only really seriously became clear within the last couple of weeks.”
Polat Can, a senior adviser for the Syrian Democratic Forces, said earlier this week that a clandestine source had taken Baghdadi’s underwear from the compound for DNA testing to confirm the terror leader’s presence in the hideout.
The Trump administration has not publicly commented on the mole’s role in the raid.
[Also read: Mulvaney wasn’t told of Baghdadi raid until it was underway]
