Elusive and destructive, the commander of the Islamic State who evaded capture for years is now dead.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in a commando raid in Syria. That announcement from U.S. President Donald Trump, who thanked Kurdish forces, Russia and Turkey for help with the operation.

CGTN’s Michal Bardavid explains.

Known as the world’s most wanted man – Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi – is dead. U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed al-Baghdadi was hunted down by U.S. special forces and was killed when he detonated a suicide vest in Syria’s Idlib province. No U.S. personnel were injured during the raid.

Brutal, violent, merciless,  al-Baghdadi was the leader of ISIS – a terrorist organization that is responsible for attacks all over the world and the deaths of thousands of civilians.

The raid was carried out in coordination with several forces including Iraq, Russia, Turkey, Syria, and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

Under al-Baghdadi’s leadership, ISIS carried out countless atrocities such as beheadings, rape and mass murder that shocked the international community. ISIS victims included members of the Yezidi minority, foreign journalists, and Jordanian pilot Muath Al- Kasasbeh who was burned alive in a cage.

In 2014, al-Baghdadi made his last public appearance in Mosul, at the Grand Al-Nuri Mosque where he declared ISIS to be a global caliphate. In the following years, it carried out multiple terrorist attacks worldwide.

Turkey was one of the countries most affected by ISIS. The group carried out numerous terrorist attacks between 2015 and 2016 that killed hundreds of civilians in Turkey. Turkish security forces still continue to carry out operations across the country to eliminate ISIS suspects.

But the group’s power gradually declined. In 2017 ISIS lost its reign over Mosul and Raqqa and earlier this year the U.S. declared it was defeated.

Leaders of several countries including Israel, France, and the UK congratulated the U.S. for the killing of al-Baghdadi.

While Iran accused the U.S. of being the creator of the terrorist organization. The death of al-Baghdadi will no doubt be a blow to ISIS – but the group continues to operate in different regions including Libya, Afghanistan and the Philippines with sleeper cells around the world.