A Syrian farmer claims US troops killed two friends and blew his arm off during the attack which killed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi earlier this year.
Barakat Ahmad Barakat, 30, said he was being driven home by cousins Khaled Mustafa Qurmo, 27, and Khaled Abdel Majid Qurmo, 30, late on October 26 when helicopters opened fire – leaving him handicapped and killing the others.
Barakat’s account of the attack contradicts US claims at the time that troops had ‘protected all of the non-combatants’ present during the raid.
Barakat Ahmad Barakat, 30, says cousins Khaled Mustafa Qurmo, 27 (left), and Khaled Abdel Majid Qurmo, 30 (right), were killed by US forces during their attack on Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and that his arm was also blown off in the process
Barakat claims the trio were riding in this van when they were shot at by US forces without warning, while American officials said they believe the occupants of the van fired first
Speaking to NPR, Barakat said: ‘Am I Baghdadi? How is this my fault? I’m just a civilian. I didn’t have any weapons.
‘We’re farmers. I make less than a dollar a day. Now I’m handicapped, and my two friends are in their graves.’
A US defense official said this is the first account of civilian casualties received, and will be reviewed to see if further investigation is necessary.
Speaking anonymously, the official said it was their understanding that the white vehicle shot by helicopters that Barakat describes had opened fire first.
But Barakat flatly denies this, saying he had no weapons and is not affiliated with any terror group.
In his account, the trio were driving home when their van was hit by a missile, spraying his cousins with shrapnel.
He said one tried to flee but fell down, while he cradled the other in his lap as he died. He said a second missile strike decapitated the man he was comforting, removing his hand in the process.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi killed himself during the raid by US special forces (troops pictured approaching the compound, bottom) on October 26
Special forces soldiers blasted their way into the building before shooting dead six ISIS members, then leveled it with missiles after leaving to ensure it didn’t become a shrine
US officials previously said that helicopters blew up a number of fighters outside the compound after they fired at the attack helicopters on approach.
Video showed the ground combatants scattering as the return fire lit up the ground around them.
More black-and-white footage of U.S. troops approaching on foot the high-walled compound in northwestern Syria where Baghdadi was holed up.
The troops approached Baghdadi’s compound from two different directions.
The special operators used tactical munitions to blow holes in the walls of the compound and enter it along with K-9 military dog units.
McKenzie said that as non-combatants fled the compound, they were detained and checked for explosives and weapons before being released after the raid.
Eleven children were escorted from the site unharmed.
A Syrian man inspects the site where Baghdadi’s compound stood before it was destroyed by a US raid in October
America had previously boasted that it protected all civilians in the compound, including 11 children who they suspected would be there
A twisted lump of concrete and steel bars is all that remains of Baghdadi’s compound
‘The group was treated humanely at all times and included 11 children,’ McKenzie said.
‘Despite the violent nature of the raid and the high profile nature of this assault, every effort was made to prevent civilian casualties, and to protect the children we suspected would be at the compound.’
Six ISIS members inside the compound attempted to fight back as the U.S. forces breached the building.
The four women and two men were all killed by U.S. forces. McKenzie said the women were wearing suicide vests and acted in a ‘threatening manner’.
As the Delta Force operators closed in, Baghdadi retreated into a dead-end tunnel in the compound using two of his own children as human shields.
‘He crawled into a hole with two small children and blew himself up while his people stayed on the grounds,’ commander General Kenneth ‘Frank’ McKenzie said when asked about Baghdadi’s final moments.