Al-Baghdadi’s death significant to Singapore’s fight against terrorism

After being chased by a tenacious K-9, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, a leading terrorist associated with ISIS is now buried at the bottom of the sea.

Viewed as a significant development, Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs sees the death of Baghdadi as a boost to the campaign against global terrorism.

Commenting on the killing of the Islamic State leader in a US operation, MFA said terrorism remains a serious threat across the world, including in Singapore.

“As a member of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, Singapore remains committed to fighting global terrorism, including by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria,” MFA added.

The ministry added that Singapore stands in solidarity with global efforts to tackle terrorism and the perpetuation of extremist ideologies.

An Iraqi-born leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Baghdadi was considered a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the United States and his group was designated as a terrorist organisation by the UN and the European Union and many other individual states. In June 2014, he was chosen by the majlis-ash-shura representing the ahl-al-hall wal-aqd of the Islamic State as their caliph.

Rising to prominence in ISIL after his imprisonment with Al Qaeda commanders at the US Camp Bucca, Baghdadi became directly involved in ISIL’s atrocities and human rights violations. These include genocide of Yazidis in Iraq, extensive sex slavery, organised rape, floggings, and systematic executions. He directed terrorist activities and massacres. He embraced brutality as part of the organization’s propaganda efforts, producing videos displaying mass crucifixions, sex slavery and executions via hacking, stoning, and burning.

Source: The Independent