Coordinated with US on raid believed to have targeted Baghdadi: Turkey

ANKARA (AFP) – Turkey on Sunday said there was coordination between Ankara and Washington before the operation which US media reports said targeted and killed Daesh chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. “Prior to the US Operation in Idlib Province of Syria last night, information exchange and coordination between the military authorities of both countries took place,” the Turkish defence ministry said in a tweet. It did not give details. The elusive chief of Daesh was believed to be dead after a US military raid in the Idlib region, US media reported earlier on Sunday. The helicopters targeted a home and a car outside the village of Barisha, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, in the operation which killed nine people. "To the best of my knowledge, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi arrived at this location 48 hours prior to the raid. We have been in close coordination with the relevant parties," a senior Turkish official told AFP. "The Turkish military did have advance knowledge of last night's raid," the official said, while stating that "I can neither confirm nor deny that any intelligence was shared to facilitate last night's operation." The official added: "We will continue to coordinate our actions on the ground." Earlier today, the US media claimed that Daesh leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was reportedly killed during a US military operation in Syria. The Islamic State (IS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in a special operation conducted by US military forces on the approval of US President Donald Trump before a week. The Reuter reported that the IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was believed to have been killed in a US military operation in Syria, sources in Syria, Iraq and Iran said on Sunday, as Donald Trump prepared to make a major statement at the White House. A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, earlier told Reuters Baghdadi was targeted in the overnight raid but was unable to say whether the operation was successful.