The Russian Defence Ministry said on Friday that it may have killed Islamic State group chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and around 330 other ISIS fighters in an airstrike in Syria on May 28. However, the spokesman for the US-led coalition against the terror group said that it "cannot confirm" Baghdadi's death in the airstrike.
Russia said that its Sukhoi warplanes carried out a 10-minute airstrike on the night of May 28 at a location near Raqqa where the leaders of the terrorist organisation were holding a meeting to plan a pullout by terrorists from ISIS' stronghold. It added that the US had been informed about the attack.
"Senior commanders of the military groups of the so-called IS military council, 30 mid-ranking field commanders and up to 300 militants who provided security for them were eliminated. According to information which is being checked through various channels, the leader of ISIL Ibrahim Abu-Bakr al-Baghdadi was also present at the meeting and was eliminated by the strike," the statement released by the Russian military said.
ISIS chief Baghdadi has not been seen in public over the last three years after he claimed in a video in June 2014 that an Isis Caliphate had been created in the city of Mosul in Iraq. There have been rumours about his death several times in the past. He has been given the nickname of the "Ghost" because his whereabouts have never been confirmed even though he has been seen at the Syrian-Iraqi border earlier.
The terrorist organisation has lost large amounts of territory since then and has also been attacked by Russian and US-led forces. Arab and Kurdish forces, backed by the US, also waged war against Isis several months ago to regain control over Isis-controlled areas.
In March, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had said that "nearly all" of Baghdadi's deputies had been killed. "It is only a matter of time before Baghdadi himself meets this same fate," he added.
