The Islamic State (IS) ’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been killed in an air raid in Syria by the U.S.-led coalition, reports said on Monday.
Baghdadi died in an air strike on IS’s stronghold of Raqqa in northern Syria, Iranian state media and pro-government Turkish daily Yenis Safak said, citing IS-affiliated Arabic news agency al-Amaq. The statement published by Amaq said IS’s ‘Caliph’ Baghdadi had been killed on Sunday, according to the media reports. “Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been killed by coalition air strikes on Raqqa on the fifth day of Ramadan,” said the statement.
The coalition did not immediately comment on the report. Earlier on Monday, Iraqi TV channel ‘Al-Sumaria’ said that Baghadi had been wounded on Sunday in a coalition air strike on a location 65 km west of IS-held Mosul. CNN on Monday cited U.S. defence officials as saying that they received credible intelligence that Baghdadi, who has a $25 million bounty on his head, has moved around within the past six months and had travelled to Mosul. — IANS
