The Islamic State (ISIS) group has reportedly confirmed the death of its leader Abu Bakir al-Baghdadi, and has said it is planning on naming Baghdadi's successor soon.
ISIS has also urged its militants to show resilience and continue to fight the Iraqi armed forces in Mosul till the end, according to Basnews reports.
The statement released by ISIS led to a disarray in Tal Afar — a town west of Mosul that the terrorist group still holds. Reports also state that intra-ISIS confrontations also broke out between pro-Baghdadi militants and his opponents in the extremist group.
The situation reportedly forced the seniors of the group to enforce tight security measures in the town.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) had on Tuesday said it had received "confirmed information" that al-Baghdadi had been killed.
The SOHR had ascribed the information to sources "including one of the first rank, in the Islamic State in the eastern countryside of Deir al-Zor."
Meanwhile, Al Sumaria TV had quoted a source in the Nineveh province as saying that ISIS had declared Baghdadi dead, and that the terrorist organisation would announce his successor soon.
There were several reports circulating last month which said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Oleg Syromolotov told Sputnik it was "highly likely" that the ISIS chief had been eliminated in an airstrike conducted by the Russian fighter jets in Syria's Raqqa city.
Russian lawmaker Alexei Pushkov had also said the probability of the ISIS leader's death — according to the Russian data — after Russian airstrikes was about 100 percent.
"If he were alive, then as a demonstration of power and as a mean of increasing war morale, a refutation would have been already announced," Pushkov argued in a statement made to Sputnik.
The ISIS leader's death has been reported on multiple occasions over the recent years, with no possible confirmation of his demise.
