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The pentagon has released footage of the moment US Special Forces raid targeted ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s compound in Syria.

Newly-declassified videos shows about half troops approaching the compound and aerial strikes carried out by fighter jets to blow up the site once it was cleared.

Al-Baghdadi’s died during the raid on Saturday and was announced the following day by Donald Trump, who claimed the ISIS leader whimpered before blowing himself up.

Marine Corps General Kenneth F McKenzie Jr, commander of US Central Command, released the footage as part of a briefing on Wednesday.

“Baghdadi was the subject of an intense inter-agency effort to bring him to justice, and that effort significantly advanced recently as we closed in on his whereabouts,” the general said in a statement.

The videos were the first government photos and video clips of the night operation, and include one showing Delta Force commandos approaching the walls of the compound in which al-Baghdadi and others were found.

Another video showed American airstrikes on other militants who fired at helicopters carrying soldiers to the compound. The US also bombed the compound after the soldiers completed the mission so that it would not stand as a shrine to al-Baghdadi.

General McKenzie said al-Baghdadi's remains were buried at sea within 24 hours of his death inside an underground tunnel where he fled as special operations soldiers closed in on him.

The attacking American force launched from an undisclosed location inside Syria for the one-hour helicopter ride to the compound, General McKenzie said.

Two children died with al-Baghdadi when he detonated a bomb vest, he said, adding that this was one fewer than originally reported. He said the children appeared to be under the age of 12.

Eleven other children were escorted from the site unharmed. Four women and two men who were wearing suicide vests and refused to surrender inside the compound were killed, he said.

The general said the military dog that was injured during the raid is a four-year veteran with US Special Operations Command and had been on approximately 50 combat missions.

Baghdadi was identified by comparing his DNA to a sample collected in 2004 by US forces in Iraq, where he had been detained.

The US managed to collect "substantial" amounts of documentation and electronics during the rain, General McKenzie said, but he would not elaborate.

Such efforts are a standard feature of raids against high-level extremist targets and can be useful in learning more about the group's plans.

Although the raid was successful, General McKenzie said it would be a mistake to conclude that the Islamic State has been defeated.

"It will take them some time to re-establish someone to lead the organisation, and during that period of time their actions may be a little bit disjointed," the general said. "They will be dangerous. We suspect they will try some form of retribution attack, and we are postured and prepared for that."

In outlining the operation, General McKenzie said al-Baghdadi had been at the compound in Syria's northwest Idlib province for "a considerable period," but he was not specific.

He said the raid was briefed to President Trump on Friday.

General McKenzie offered no new details about al-Baghdadi's final moments. "He crawled into a hole with two small children and blew himself up while his people stayed on the grounds," he said when asked by a reporter about al-Baghdadi's last moments and Mr Trump's description of the Islamic State leader as "whimpering and crying and screaming all the way" to his death.