US secures Syria oil fields after killing 'IS' leader

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Monday said US forces have secured oil fields in eastern Syria following a successful operation targeting "Islamic State" (IS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

During a Pentagon press briefing, Esper said the US would respond "with overwhelming military force" against any actor that "threatens the safety of our forces" in Syria.

"At the height of Baghdadi's reign, these oil fields provided ISIS with the bulk of financial resources used to fund its terror," Esper said, referring to the group by an alternative acronym. "US troops will remain in this strategic area to deny ISIS access to those vital resources."

The defense secretary noted that the oil fields also serve as a "critical source of funding" for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which spearheaded the fight against IS with US support. He said the oil fields help the SDF "secure ISIS prison camps and conduct operations" against the group.

Read more: Who was the 'Islamic State' leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi?

'Devastating blow'

US President Donald Trump on Sunday announced that al-Baghdadi was killed during a US operation. The IS leader detonated explosives strapped to a suicide vest he was wearing when he ran into a dead end in an underground tunnel. The explosion killed three of his children.

"Baghdadi and the thugs who follow him were responsible for some of the most brutal atrocities of our time," Esper said. "His death marks a devastating blow for the remnants of [IS], who are now deprived of their inspirational leader following the destruction of their physical caliphate earlier this year."

The remains of al-Baghdadi have been buried at sea at an unnamed location, US officials told Reuters. It was similar to the 2011 sea burial of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden after his death in a US special forces raid in Pakistan.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said al-Baghdadi's death does not signify the end of the militant group's global aspirations.

"We have to be clear with ourselves that the fight against IS as a whole is definitely not over," Maas said. "I'm sure that it will be expected of Germany — and rightly so — that we take part in the fight against the Islamic State, and we take responsibility for that."

Read more: With 'Islamic State' in tatters, al-Qaida renews call for jihad

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sri,ls/dr (dpa, Reuters)