Pakistan, Oct. 29 -- Syrian Kurds claimed to be a key source of the intelligence that led Americans to Baghdadi after years of tracking the man behind a five-year reign of terror across much of Iraq and Syria.

And an unnamed US military dog became an unlikely hero of the raid, incurring injuries as it chased Baghdadi down a dead-end tunnel underneath his northwestern Syria hideout, where the militant blew himself and three children up with a suicide vest.

The US military basked in success on Monday after eliminating the founder and spiritual guide of the Islamic State (IS) group, capping a years-long campaign to crush the extremist organization that had at one point created a "caliphate" the size of England.

"His death marks a devastat...