NBC’s Richard Engel: World Is ‘Safer, Better Place’ Without ISIS Leader, But Kurds ‘Are Not Celebrating’ Right Now

NBC foreign correspondent Richard Engel noted although the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi should be celebrated, he reports Kurds in Syria face great uncertainties in the days ahead.

“There is another story to all of this. Here in northern Syria, you would expect that people would be celebrating all of this. That a terror leader has just been killed. The world is a safer, better place without Baghdadi in it. But they are not celebrating here,” Engel told anchor Alex Witt on Weekends with Alex Witt Sunday.

“ISIS terrorized the Kurds, ISIS hunted down Kurds because they refused to accept the ISIS way of life,” Engel said. “But it was the Kurds here in northern Iraq who in many ways made this operation possible because for the last five years they have been chasing after ISIS with those very same American special operations forces. And today they only got a passing mention by President Trump, a passing thank you, while right now their homeland is being destroyed by Turkey.”

“They say ‘we’ve cooperated with the United States for so long and helped make this moment possible.’ President Trump turned it into a moment to celebrate himself while they are being driven off of their land. That’s how it was being seen from here today,” he said.

In addition to reporting how the Kurds were seeing the news, Engel also dramatically recounted the special operation that ultimately led to the death of al-Baghdadi.

Watch above, via MSNBC.