Death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

Operation Kayla Mueller
	Part of the United States intervention in Syria during the Syrian civil war, the War against the Islamic State and War on terror
	; Baghdadi's compound, before and after the U.S. special operations raid, 26–27 October 2019
Date	26–27 October 2019 (1 day)
Location	300 meters outside Barisha, Harem District, Idlib Governorate, Syria36°09′57″N 36°37′39″E / 36.1658°N 36.6274°E
Result	American victory Successful raid on Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's compound; Death of al-Baghdadi by suicide belt; Seizure of materials and captives from compound; compound later destroyed by U.S. fighter jets and drones;
Belligerents
United States	Islamic State
Commanders and leaders
Donald Trump; Mark Esper; Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr.; Mark A. Milley	Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ‡‡
Units involved
Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) A squadron, 1st SFOD-D (Delta Force); 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne); ; 75th Ranger Regiment;	Military of the Islamic State
Strength
~100 JSOC operators; 8 helicopters; Unknown number of military working dogs and robots	Unknown
Casualties and losses
2 soldiers and 1 dog injured	16–21 killed 6 IS members including Baghdadi; 10–15 non-IS militants; 2 militants captured
	2 children died after Baghdadi detonated his vest; 2 civilians killed and one injured by U.S. airstrikes
	Barisha Location of Barisha in Syria

On October 26–27, 2019, the United States conducted a military operation codenamed Operation Kayla Mueller that resulted in the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the then-leader and self-proclaimed caliph of the Islamic State. The operation took place in the outskirts of Barisha, Idlib Governorate, Syria. According to General Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) commander who oversaw the operation, Baghdadi killed himself along with two children when he detonated a suicide belt while fleeing from U.S. forces during the raid.

The U.S. operation was named for Kayla Mueller, an American aid worker who had been captured by and died in the custody of the Islamic State.