US President Donald Trump placed the Islamic State group's new chief in the crosshairs Monday as he marked Veterans' Day by celebrating the killing of the jihadists' former leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
While US presidents traditionally mark the day by laying a wreath at a vast military cemetery in Arlington, near Washington, Trump traveled to New York where he made an address ahead of the city's annual parade of veterans.
Trump was widely criticised after announcing a full withdrawal of US troops from Syria last month, with opponents and even some allies saying it could allow Islamic State to rebuild as well as leaving US-allied Kurdish fighters vulnerable to a Turkish invasion.
But the US president used his speech in New York to claim that the IS leadership was running scared in the wake of Baghdadi's death in a raid in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib on October 26.
"Just a few weeks ago, American special forces raided the ISIS compound and brought the world's number one terrorist leader to justice," he said. "Thanks to American warriors, al-Baghdadi is dead, his second in charge is dead, we have our eyes on number three."
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