Syrian Observatory has 'confirmed information' Islamic State chief Baghdadi killed

Record ID: 898948

  • Title: Syrian Observatory has 'confirmed information' Islamic State chief Baghdadi killed
  • Date: 11th July 2017
  • Summary: MOSUL, IRAQ (JUNE 12, 2014) (REUTERS FOR AGENCY POOL) VARIOUS OF IRAQI MILITARY TRUCKS CARRYING MASKED MILITANTS OF ISLAMIC STATE WAVING BLACK FLAGS VARIOUS OF I.S. FIGHTERS IN TRUCKS WITH ONE HEARD SAYING (Arabic): "THE ISLAMIC STATE" AND "TOWARDS BAGHDAD" I.S. MILITANTS IN PICK-UP TRUCK WITH ONE SAYING (Arabic): "ISLAMIC STATE WILL REMAIN AND WILL EXPAND, GOD WILLING" VARIOUS OF VEHICLES DRIVING PAST
  • Embargoed: 25th July 2017 13:21
  • Keywords: Islamic State chief Iraq Mosul war Baghdadi killed Syrian Observatory
  • Location: SAID TO BE MOSUL, IRAQ
  • City: SAID TO BE MOSUL, IRAQ
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
  • Reuters ID: LVA0026PAWQIV
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told Reuters on Tuesday (July 11) it had "confirmed information" that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been killed.
    "(We have) confirmed information from leaders, including one of the first rank, in the Islamic State in the eastern countryside of Deir al-Zor," the director of the British-based war monitoring group Rami Abdulrahman told Reuters.
    Reuters could not independently verify Baghdadi's death.
    Baghdadi's death had been announced many times before but the Observatory has a track record of credible reporting on Syria's civil war.
    Russia's Defence Ministry said in June that it might have killed Baghdadi when one of its air strikes hit a gathering of Islamic State commanders on the outskirts of the Syrian city of Raqqa, but Washington said it could not corroborate the death and Western and Iraqi officials have been sceptical.
    The last public video footage of Baghdadi shows him dressed in black clerical robes declaring his caliphate from the pulpit of Mosul's medieval Grand al-Nuri mosque back in 2014.
    Islamic State militants blew up the mosque and its famous leaning minaret on June 21 after Iraqi forces started a push towards the mosque. A U.S.-led coalition provided air and ground support to the Mosul offensive which began in October 2016.
    Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over Islamic State in Mosul on Monday (July 10) after the nearly nine-month battle to recapture the city from the militant group.
    Born Ibrahim al-Samarrai, Baghdadi is a 46-year-old Iraqi who broke away from al-Qaeda in 2013, two years after the capture and killing of the group's leader Osama bin Laden.
    The United States has offered a $25 million reward to bring the militant leader to justice.
  • Copyright Holder: POOL (CAN SELL)
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