U.S. military officials say they have no information to confirm or deny a report Islamic State leader ISIS Abu Bakr al-Baghadi has been killed in an air strike.
Independent experts are expressing skepticism about the fast-spreading claims of the terrorist leader’s death, which began late Saturday with a report on Syrian state television. The report said al-Baghdadi was killed during heavy bombing of the Islamic State’s de facto capital of Raqqa.
A spokesperson on weekend duty at the U.S. Defense Department told VOA she had received queries about the reports but had no information to confirm or deny it.
Air raids on Raqqa
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has confirmed intense air raids on Raqqa, where anti-IS forces began a major offensive last week. Reports from the region say the Amaq news agency, which is publicly identified with Islamic State, showed video of a body purported to be that of al-Baghdadi.
However, the British newspaper The Scotsman cited a tweet by terrorism analyst Michael Smith saying he has viewed the video and does not believe the body to be that of al-Baghdadi.
Multiple previous claims that the IS leader had been killed have proven to be false.
Read More Experts Skeptical About Reports of Death of al-Baghdadi : http://ift.tt/2rk1RS1
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