Massive airstrike in Syria takes out IS leader, says state TV
THE leader of Islamic State has been killed in airstrikes in Syria, it was claimed yesterday.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was reportedly killed after going into hiding, according to Syrian State TV.
It comes as Western forces continue to drive the Islamist fanatics from their strongholds in Iraq and Syria.
Heavy artillery fire was directed at the city of Raqqa yesterday, with footage posted online by the terror group’s news agency Amaq revealing the destruction.
Al-Baghdadi’s death has not been confirmed by the militant group, which has brought death and destruction to vast swathes of Iraq and Syria, as well as laying claim to numerous terror attacks around the world.
This is not the first time he has been reported dead, and the reports could be a propaganda attempt to sway public opinion positively towards the much-criticised Syrian government.
In January, reports claimed al-Baghdadi was “critically injured” in airstrikes in northern Iraq.
But in March, the Pentagon stated he managed to stay alive despite repeated efforts by the US-led coalition to target the hate preacher. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said it was “only a matter of time” before al-Baghdadi was killed.
He said: “Nearly all of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s deputies are now dead, including the mastermind behind the attacks in Brussels, Paris and elsewhere.
“It is only a matter of time before Baghdadi himself meets the same fate.”
British commander Major General Rupert Jones said al-Baghdadi had abandoned his followers to “skulk” in hiding. He added: “The vast majority of his loyal lieutenants are already in graves. He and what is left of his leadership structure are skulking and hiding for their lives.”
Al-Baghdadi previously spent time in a US military prison after joining the insurgency that emerged after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.
His hate preaching inspired terror attacks across the globe – he currently has a £20million bounty on his head. The IS leader was believed to be hiding in the desert in Iraq, but intelligence agencies think he fled back to Syria amid the offensive to retake Mosul.
The unconfirmed reports of his death come after a Kurdish official claimed IS used 17 suicide car bombers in an elaborate bid to help al Baghdadi flee from the city.
The escape took place after the fall of east Mosul and before the Iraqi security forces began their final attack on IS-held west Mosul on February 19. Fuad Hussain, chief of staff to Kurdish president Masoud Barzani, said: “Isis used 17 suicide car bombs from Mosul and some of their units from Syria to clear the road leading out of Mosul for a few hours.”
He added IS, also known as Isis, would only carry out such an elaborate operation to bring al-Baghdadi to safety.
He said: “Isis brought 300 of their fighters from Syria and it was a very fierce fight. I believe myself that they freed al-Baghdadi.”
In April, it was reported that al-Baghdadi’s secondin-command had been killed in an air strike in Iraq.
Ayad al-Jumaili was killed with other IS commanders in a strike carried out by the Iraqi air force in the region of al-Qaim, near the border with Syria, Iraqi State TV said, without giving the date of the raid.