U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted about the anti-ISIL raid Thursday, saying those arrested were the “five most wanted” ISIL “leaders.” It was unclear what criteria, if any, Trump was using to describe the ISIL operatives as the “five most wanted.”

A U.S. national security official said there were no indications that the operation had captured Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIL who has long been the coalition’s top target. The New York Times reported, “Five senior Islamic State officials have been captured, including a top aide to the group’s leader, in a complex cross-border sting carried out by Iraqi and American intelligence, two Iraqi officials said Wednesday.”

According to The Times, the capture of the Islamic State leaders, which was part of a three month sting operation “represents a significant intelligence victory for the American-led coalition fighting the extremist group and underscores the strengthening relationship between Washington and Baghdad.”

Two Iraqi officials said those captured include four Iraqis and one Syrian and their responsibilities included governing the Islamic State group’s territory around the town of Deir ez-Zor, near the Iraq-Syria border. A still photo from video posted on a militant website July 5, 2014, purports to show the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, delivering a sermon at a mosque in Iraq during his first public appearance. Hillary Said ISIS Is ‘Rooting for Donald Trump’ — Now, Trump Has a Huge Announcement Showing the Opposite

In 2016, then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton claimed that ISIS was “rooting for Donald Trump.” She explained that ISIS leaders had made it “very clear” that they are “essentially throwing whatever support they have to Donald Trump.”

“They have said that they hope that he is the president because it would give even more motivation to every jihadi,” she said.
President of the United States Donald Trump announces that five senior leaders of ISIL were captured in a joint operation involving US and Iraqi forces.