Finnish PM Warns Risk Of retaliation After Death Of IS Leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

By Bimbo Ogunnaike with agency report

Finnish Prime Minister Antti Rinne has said that the killing of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State (IS), will put IS in a more difficult situation but has not paralyzed its operations.

Rinne said on Finnish radio on Sunday that the fight against IS has not been won despite the death of its leader

. “There are fighters remaining It appears a concentration is being formed near Europe where IS remains operationally capable.”

“Actions like this, if the leader has been killed, will increase the risk of retaliation,” he spoke on the basis of intelligence information given to him as prime minister.

Rinne said that the U.S. withdrawal from supporting the Kurds and the Turkish military operation in northern Syria has in practice weakened the security in the region.

The Kurds can no longer fight so efficiently against IS, nor guard the prisoners they have taken, he said.

Meanwhile, a Finnish defense analyst predicted that the death of the IS leader will cause retaliatory attacks.

Antti Paronen, an adjunct professor at the Finnish Military Academy, told national broadcaster Yle that IS is likely to make al-Baghdadi a martyr.

Paronen said that the killing of al-Baghdadi does not necessarily have a major importance to the militant group.

“Power and responsibilities in that organization have already been coordinated after the battles of Mosul in a way that facilitates a transfer into guerrilla combat and terror attacks,” Paronen said on Sunday.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that U.S. Special Operations Forces conducted a raid Saturday night targeting al-Baghdadi in northwest Syria, during which al-Baghdadi killed himself by igniting a suicide vest.