UK dispatch troops to Iraq to capture IS leader

CAIRO – 31 May 2019: The UK has deployed special forces to Iraq for a "kill or capture" against top Islamic State (IS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a report revealed on Thursday.

According to a report by The Mirror, around 30 British Army’s Special Air Service (SAS) troops as well as Special Boat Service troopers have been dispatched to Iraq, cooperating with the US Special Forces there.

“Al-Baghdadi is a very important figurehead for IS and getting him is a very high priority,” a former intelligence officer was cited as saying. “His leadership of IS has been punctuated with some of the vilest acts of violence against human beings by terrorists. It would be good to capture him, but this may be unlikely given some of the areas he is thought to be hiding as they are almost no-go areas for western troops.”

The forces are said to use RAF drones and Hellfire missiles in the operation.