The Department of Defense has published drone footage of the US special forces raid that allegedly killed the leader the Islamic State terrorist group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as well as additional details of the mission.

Central Command chief General Frank McKenzie described the operation at a Pentagon press briefing on Wednesday, issuing a brief black and white video clip which appears to show US forces closing in on Baghdadi’s compound.

The special ops raid opened with a helicopter assault, eventually surrounding the compound with ground forces and engaging those inside. One video clip shows an airstrike on a group of fighters gathered outside the facility who fired on US aircraft.

Knowing his capture was imminent, Baghdadi fled into tunnels adjacent to the compound, where he detonated a suicide vest, killing himself and two of his own children.

"After Baghdadi's murder-suicide, our assault force cleared significant debris from the tunnel and secured Baghdadi's remains for DNA identity confirmation..." - Gen Frank McKenzie CDR USCENTCOM pic.twitter.com/fNLtXcOMG4 — U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) October 30, 2019

Five Islamic State fighters inside the building – four women and one man – also put up resistance, but were overcome by the ground troops and their air support, which included attack helicopters, drones and fighter jets. Calls for peaceful surrender were ignored, McKenzie noted, but two surviving fighters were eventually taken into custody.

The terrorist leader was “brought to justice” after “an intense inter-agency effort,” McKenzie said, adding “we developed an execution level plan designed to capture or kill him and started preparing a special operations team for the mission.”

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With the kill-capture mission complete, US forces then leveled Baghdadi’s facility using standoff munitions, turning the compound into “a parking lot with large potholes.” Baghdadi's remains were recovered for DNA testing, which confirmed his identity, and buried at sea within 24 hours of the raid.

However, much like the killing of al-Qaeda figurehead Osama bin Laden – who was also said to be buried at sea – Baghdadi’s demise has been met with skepticism by the more conspiracy-minded, with some dubious of the blurry footage, while others questioned whether the raid really happened the way Pentagon describes it.

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