US says two men captured alive during Baghdadi operation

Two men were taken captive by US forces during the raid in Syria that led to the death of IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a top US military official said on Monday.

"There were two adult males taken off the objective, alive," chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley said during a briefing at the Pentagon.

"They're in our custody and they're in a secure facility," Milley added.

Milley also told reporters that there were video and photos of Baghdadi's final moments, although he said that they would not be released at present.

Once the images were "vetted and declassified", some of them may be made available to the media, Milley said.

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Milley did not give details of what would happen to Baghdadi's body, saying only that it had been dealt with according to standard operating procedures.

Local sources had previously told The New Arab that rescuers had found the bodies of seven people at the site where Baghdadi died, as well as eleven wounded people.

Three of the dead were women while one was a young girl.

Baghdadi reportedly died after blowing himself up in a tunnel under a house near the village of Barisha in Syria’s north-western province of Idlib, after he was cornered by US troops.

US President Donald Trump said that the notorious IS leader "died like a dog", adding that Baghdadi "spent his last moments in utter fear, in total panic and dread, terrified of the American forces bearing down on him".