Russia says IS leader Baghdadi may have been killed in strike
THE Russian army on Friday said it was seeking to verify whether Islamic State chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed when its warplanes hit the group’s leaders in a night raid in Syria last month.
The United States said it could not immediately confirm whether Baghdadi, the leader of global jihadism, was dead.
The elusive Iraqi-born Islamist is the world’s most-wanted man and has not been seen in public since proclaiming himself “caliph” in the Iraqi city of Mosul three years ago.
Russia’s army said Sukhoi warplanes carried out the 10-minute raid at a location near the IS stronghold of Raqqa, where group leaders had gathered to plan a pullout from the area.
“Senior commanders of the military groups of the so-called IS military council, 30 midranking field commanders and up to 300 militants who provided security for them were eliminated,” the army’s statement said. “According to information which is being checked through various channels, the leader of ISIL Ibrahim Abu-Bakr al-Baghdadi was also present at the meeting and was eliminated by the strike.”
Later at the meeting of President Vladimir Putin’s security council, Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu gave different figures of jihadists killed, according to the Kremlin.
Shoigu said the strike “eliminated over 100 terrorists, including members of IS leadership, and, presumably, alBaghdadi”, spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian media.
But the US-led coalition said it could not immediately affirm whether Baghdadi was killed.
“We cannot confirm these reports at this time,” said Operation Inherent Resolve US Army Colonel Ryan Dillon.
Baghdadi has been rumoured wounded or killed a number of times in the past.
His group has earned notoriety for imposing a hardline form of Islam that has included stonings, beheadings and amputations. Its bastion of Raqqa became a magnet for would-be jihadis from other countries.
He has been nicknamed “The Ghost” as he has been reportedly spotted around the SyrianIraqi border, but his whereabouts have never been confirmed.
In March, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson declared that Baghdadi’s death was imminent as “nearly all” of his deputies were dead and “it is only a matter of time” before the IS chief himself met the same fate.
Russia in September 2015 launched a bombing campaign in Syria in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Its efforts against IS jihadists are separate from those of the USled coalition, which supports Syrian rebels.