The US received help from Iraqi intelligence to pinpoint the safe house of ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, but it was also getting intelligence from a source closer to the elusive militant chief: a Syrian Kurdish informant who breached his inner circle.
The source managed to gain the trust of the ISIS leader, according to senior Syrian Kurdish officials, learning key details about his hiding place, who he was protected by, where he would be on the night of the US raid and where he may flee to if he escaped.
Polat Can, a senior adviser to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, published details of the intelligence work that led to the US special forces raid in which the ISIS founder was killed.
"Since 15 May, we have been working together with the CIA to track Al Baghdadi and monitor him closely," he said.
"Al Baghdadi changed his places of residence very often," Mr Can said, adding that the informant managed to reach the house where the ISIS chief was believed to be hiding.
"Our own source, who had been able to reach Al Baghdadi, brought Al Baghdadi's underwear to conduct a DNA test and make sure that the person (100%) in question was Al Baghdadi himself," the adviser tweeted.
He said the US raid in the north-western province of Idlib was largely the result of SDF intelligence work, although Turkey's offensive against the Kurds launched on October 9 delayed the operation.
"Our intelligence source was involved in sending co-ordinates, directing the airdrop, participating in and making the operation a success until the last minute," Mr Can said.
US President Donald Trump, who announced the death of the world's most wanted man on Sunday, thanked Syrian Kurdish forces "for a certain support they were able to give us", but did not elaborate.
Trump said a DNA field test had confirmed Al Baghdadi's identity, and he also thanked Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Russia for their co-operation.
The Pentagon said on Monday that Al Baghdadi's body had been disposed of at sea.
MATCH INFO
England 2
Cahill (3'), Kane (39')
Nigeria 1
Iwobi (47')
The specs
Price: From Dh529,000
Engine: 5-litre V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 520hp
Torque: 625Nm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.8L/100km
Bundesliga fixtures
Saturday, May 16 (kick-offs UAE time)
Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (4.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Freiburg (4.30pm)
Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin (4.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldorf v Paderborn (4.30pm)
Augsburg v Wolfsburg (4.30pm)
Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Monchengladbach (7.30pm)
Sunday, May 17
Cologne v Mainz (4.30pm),
Union Berlin v Bayern Munich (7pm)
Monday, May 18
Werder Bremen v Bayer Leverkusen (9.30pm)
Brief scoreline:
Tottenham 1
Son 78'
Manchester City 0
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Read more from Kareem Shaheen
57%20Seconds
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Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
Cinco in numbers
Dh3.7 million
The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown
46
The number, in kilograms, that Swarovski’s wedding gown weighed.
1,000
The hours it took to create Cinco’s vermillion petal gown, as seen in his atelier [note, is the one he’s playing with in the corner of a room]
50
How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday
3,000
The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
1.1 million
The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.
Reputation
Taylor Swift
(Big Machine Records)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mobile phone packages comparison
'Nope'
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The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
Dhadak
Director: Shashank Khaitan
Starring: Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khattar, Ashutosh Rana
Stars: 3
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
