Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the militant group Isis, was killed on Saturday in a US special forces raid in north-western Syria, President Donald Trump announced from the White House on Sunday.
Trump announced the death Sunday, after hinting at the news on Twitter on Saturday night, tweeting, “Something very big has just happened!”
The US-led coalition in Iraq has, for the first time, confirmed its participation alongside Iraqi Security Forces in its “Will of Victory” operation to defeat the remnants of Islamic State [ISIS], as well as offensives conducted by Kurdish forces in Northern Syria.
“CJTFOIR [Coalition Joint Task Force for Operation Intent Resolve] conducted a series of strikes against Daesh [Arabic acronym for ISIS] facilitators this week in Nineveh in support of the Iraqi Security Forces,” read a Monday tweet from Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), the moniker for the US-led coalition against ISIS.
Venezuela’s crisis is spilling across the border into Colombia as Marxist rebels and right-wing paramilitaries recruit migrants to strengthen their ranks, according to five Colombian military commanders.
Violence still simmers in Colombia despite a 2016 peace deal with leftist FARC rebels, meant to end five decades of conflict. Dissident FARC fighters, the rebel National Liberation Army (ELN), right-wing paramilitaries and drug-trafficking gangs are battling each other and the military.
General Francisco Yanez, high command of Venezuela’s air force, said he now recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim head-of-state, according to media reports Saturday.
In a video circulating on Twitter on Saturday, Yanez said most of the armed forces have already disavowed Maduro, who claims he is victim of a coup directed by the U.S.
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president in a defiant speech Wednesday before masses of anti-government demonstrators who took to the streets to demand President Nicolas Maduro’s removal — a bold move that was immediately recognized by the Trump administration and a growing number of other Western nations.
President Donald Trump called on Maduro to resign and said the U.S. would use the “full weight” of its economic and diplomatic power to push for the restoration of Venezuela’s democracy. Canada as well as Brazil, Colombia and several other Latin American nations followed suit in throwing their support behind Guaido.