Defence Secretary of United States Mark Esper has said that the death of ISIS leader and the world's most wanted terrorist Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in an American air raid in northwest Syria is a major victory in the enduring mission to defeat the dreaded terror group.

Esper said that as a result, Baghdadi, who led the IslamicState of Iraq and Syria terrorist movement and inspired one of the most brutaland misguided terror campaigns in modern history, is dead at the hands of theUnited States military.

Esper was a part of a small group of people who were aware ofthe top-secret operation and watched the raid live from the Situation Room ofthe White House.