Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of Islamic State, is dead, according to a Syrian war monitor.

"(We have) confirmed information from leaders, including one of the first rank, in the Islamic State in the eastern countryside of Deir al-Zor," Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. "We learned of it today but we do not know when he died or how."

Russia's defence ministry said last month that it may have killed Baghdadi when one of its air strikes hit a gathering of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) commanders on the outskirts of the Syrian city of Raqqa, but the US said it could not corroborate the death and Western and Iraqi officials have been sceptical. </s> Russia claimed last month that an air strike in Syria may have taken out Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the elusive leader of the Islamic State. The May 28 strike on the outskirts of Raqqa — the capital of ISIS’s so-called caliphate — allegedly targeted a meeting of ISIS military commanders. Al-Baghdadi, the Kremlin said, was among them.

The U.S. military and other analysts made clear their skepticism. The U.S. confirmed that Russia did conduct a strike in that area on that date, but as to al-Baghdadi’s fate, a Pentagon spokesman said: “We have no information to corroborate those reports.” The circumstances surrounding his alleged death were also questionable. It struck experts as unlikely that so many high-level ISIS leaders would all meet together in the middle of a military hot zone, making themselves vulnerable to a targeted strike. And, of course, al-Baghdadi has a reputation for getting “killed” or critically injured, over and over again.

And now there’s a new report. On Tuesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an independent and well-regarded agency that monitors the civil war in Syria from London, claimed that al-Bahgdadi’s had been killed. The group said it received “reliable information from a first-line commander of the ‘Islamic State’ organization and second-line commanders of the organization, descended from the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor” who confirmed that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead. Deir Ezzor is a region in eastern Syrian near the Iraqi border where ISIS is under siege. Those sources indicated that al-Baghdadi had, within the last three months, been in a village in that area. But it was unclear, based on the Observatory’s information, when or how, exactly, al-Baghdadi may have died.

Al-Baghdadi’s latest rumored death still hasn’t been confirmed by U.S. officials, but it appears the Pentagon is giving more respect to this report. “I really don’t know,” Army Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, who commands the U.S.-led campaign against ISIS in Iraq and Syria, said. “I don’t have reason to believe that he’s alive. I don’t have proof of life.”

A spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition also told reporters that while it couldn’t confirm the Syrian Observatory’s report, they “hope it was true.” He also warned: “We strongly advise ISIS to implement a strong line of succession, it will be needed.”

Yet ISIS has not made any announcement about its leader, though as experts have pointed out, it might not be eager to affirm such a huge symbolic defeat.

Chatter on the ISIS channels appear to be borrowing from the playbook of the American president, calling any such reports of al-Baghdadi death a brand of “fake news:”

But al-Baghdadi’s possible death probably matters little in the larger battle against ISIS. Little is known about the “ghostlike” commander, an Iraqi who first dabbled with Al Qaeda there before busting onto the scene in 2014 to declare ISIS a caliphate from the pulpit of the al-Nuri Grand Mosque in Mosul (which was recently destroyed by ISIS fighters). He hasn’t been heard from since November, when he allegedly issued an audio recording. In the months since, the U.S. has managed to knock out many of ISIS’s top operatives. It’s also unclear what, if any, strategic role al-Baghdadi has had in the battles for Mosul and Raqqa. But the ideology he espouses is still thriving — even as ISIS has suffered territorial losses and battlefield defeats, it continues to inspire adherents, and has launched attacks around the world in recent weeks. Al-Baghdadi may be dead, or he may be alive, but either way, a replacement is waiting. </s> Islamic State group chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was reported dead today, a day after Iraq declared it had driven the jihadists from their one-time biggest stronghold of Mosul. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a longtime monitor of the country’s conflict, said it had information from top IS leaders confirming Baghdadi’s death. The report could not be independently verified and Baghdadi has been reported dead several times. But if confirmed, his death would mark another devastating blow to the jihadist group after its loss of Mosul, which Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said Monday had been retaken from IS after a gruelling months-long campaign. “Top tier commanders from IS who are present in Deir Ezzor province have confirmed the death of Abu Bakr al- Baghdadi, emir of the Islamic State group, to the Observatory,” the monitoring group’s director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP. “We learned of it today but we do not know when he died or how.” Deir Ezzor, in eastern Syria, remains largely under IS control even as the group is losing territory elsewhere in the country and in neighbouring Iraq.

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Abdel Rahman said Baghdadi “was present in eastern parts of Deir Ezzor province” in recent months, but it was unclear if he died in the area or elsewhere. There was no official confirmation or denial of the news on social media platforms used by IS. The US-led coalition said it could not verify the Observatory’s information. “We cannot confirm this report, but hope it is true,” said coalition spokesman Colonel Ryan Dillon. “We strongly advise ISIS to implement a strong line of succession, it will be needed,” he added, using a different acronym for IS. There have been persistent rumours of Baghdadi’s death in recent months, and Russia’s army said in mid-June that it was seeking to verify whether it had killed the IS chief in a May air strike in Syria. The US-led coalition fighting the jihadist group in Syria and Iraq said at the time it could not confirm whether the Russian strike had killed Baghdadi.

With a USD 25 million US bounty on his head, Baghdadi has kept a low profile and was rumoured to move regularly throughout IS-held territory in the area straddling Iraq and Syria. The 46-year-old Iraqi-born leader of IS has not been seen in public since making his only known public appearance as “caliph” in 2014 at the Grand Mosque of Al-Nuri in Mosul. IS destroyed the highly symbolic site before Iraqi forces could reach it as they pushed the jihadist group from Mosul. Iraqi forces launched their campaign in October to retake Mosul, which was seized by the jihadists during the mid-2014 offensive that saw them take control of large parts of Iraq and Syria. Abadi announced in Mosul yesterday that the campaign had ended with the defeat of IS in the city, hailing “a victory over darkness, a victory over brutality and terrorism”.

The cost of victory has been enormous: much of Mosul in ruins, thousands dead and wounded and nearly half the city’s population forced from their homes. In Mosul’s Old City, where buildings lie in ruins and burned-out cars and other debris choke the streets, security forces were still searching for remaining IS fighters. “What we are doing today is just combing the area and clearing it of sleeper cells,” Staff Lieutenant General Sami al-Aridhi, a senior commander in Iraq’s elite Counter- Terrorism Service (CTS), said today. “There are groups that are hiding in shelters,” but they surrender or are killed, Aridhi said. Since the Mosul operation began in October, 920,000 people have fled their homes, only a fraction of whom have returned, according to the United Nations.

Rights group Amnesty International on Tuesday accused Iraqi forces and the US-led coalition of exposing civilians to “relentless and unlawful attacks” in west Mosul. “Pro-government forces launched barrages of indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks using explosive weapons unsuitable for such a densely populated urban area,” Amnesty said. </s> Mosul: The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told Reuters on Tuesday that it had "confirmed information" that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been killed.

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 report comes weeks after Russia said it was “highly likely” that the Daesh leader had been killed in an airstrike carried out by the Russian Air Force in Syria’s Raqqah city in May.

As per media reports, the Islamic State will announce the name of Baghdadi's successor anytime soon.

Some experts are claiming that one of his top two lieutenants Iyad Al-Obaidi and Ayad Al-Jumaili could replace Al-Baghadadi.

"(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.

In the past, several media outlets have reported about the death of the IS leader, but this information has never been formally confirmed.

The 45-year-old was the leader of a jihadist organisation, which controls territory in several countries.

In 2011, the US added him to a wanted list with a reward of millions of pounds of information or intelligence leading to his capture of death.

Abdulrahman said Observatory sources in Syria's eastern town of Deir al-Zor had been told by Islamic State sources that Baghdadi had died "but they did not specify when".

Iraqi and Kurdish officials did not confirm his death. The U.S. Department of Defence said it had no immediate information corroborate Baghdadi's death.

Islamic State-affiliated websites and social media feeds have not carried any news regarding the leader's possible death.

The death of Baghdadi, who declared a caliphate from a mosque in the Iraqi city of Mosul in 2014, would be one of the biggest blows yet to the jihadist group, which is trying to defend shrinking territory in Syria and Iraq. </s> CAIRO (REUTERS) - The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told Reuters on Tuesday (July 11) that it had “confirmed information” that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), has been killed.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said in June that it might have killed Baghdadi when one of its air strikes hit a gathering of ISIS 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.

“(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.

Baghdadi’s death had been announced many times before but the Observatory has a track record of credible reporting on Syria’s civil war.

Mr Abdulrahman said Observatory sources in Syria’s eastern town of Deir al-Zor had been told by ISIS sources that Baghdadi had died “but they did not specify when”.

Iraqi and Kurdish officials did not confirm his death. The US Department of Defence said it had no immediate information corroborate Baghdadi’s death. ISIS-affiliated websites and social media feeds have not carried any news regarding the leader’s possible death.

The death of Baghdadi, who declared a caliphate from a mosque in the Iraqi city of Mosul in 2014, would be one of the biggest blows yet to the terrorist group, which is trying to defend shrinking territory in Syria and Iraq. </s> The Russian military claims it has killed the leader of the Islamic State group in an airstrike.

The ministry said on Friday that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in a Russian strike in late May along with other senior group commanders.

It said the air raid on May 28 that targeted an IS meeting held on the southern outskirts of Raqqa in Syria also killed about 30 mid-level militant leaders and about 300 other fighters.

The ministry said the strike came as IS leaders gathered to discuss the group’s withdrawal from Raqqa, the group’s de facto capital. </s> Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says it has information from top ISIL commanders confirming Baghdadi's death.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says it has "confirmed information" that leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL), Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, has been killed.

Rami Abdurrahman, director of the war monitor, told news agencies on Tuesday that Baghdadi died in Deir az Zor province in eastern Syria.

"Top tier commanders from ISIL who are present in Deir az Zor province have confirmed the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, emir of the Islamic State group, to the Observatory," Abdurrahman told the AFP.

"We learned of it today but we do not know when he died or how."

The report could not be independently verified and Baghdadi has been reported dead several times.

There was no official confirmation or denial of the news on ISIL-affiliated websites and social media feeds.

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Russia's defence ministry said in June that it might have killed Baghdadi when one of its air strikes hit a gathering of ISIL 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

Deir az Zor remains largely under ISIL control even as the group is losing territory elsewhere in the country and in neighbouring Iraq.

Iraqi and Kurdish officials did not confirm his death. The US Department of Defence said it had no immediate information to corroborate Baghdadi's death.

The 46-year-old Iraqi-born leader of ISIL has not been seen in public since making his only known public appearance as "caliph" in 2014 at the Grand Mosque of al-Nuri in Mosul.

ISIL destroyed the highly symbolic site before Iraqi forces could reach it as they pushed the group from Mosul, where Iraq's government formally declared victory on Monday.

With a $25m US bounty on his head, Baghdadi has kept a low profile and was rumoured to move regularly throughout ISIL-held territory in the area straddling Iraq and Syria.

His death, if confirmed, would be a new blow to the group which is also battling a US-backed coalition of Kurdish and Arab fighters for control of Raqqa. </s> BREAKING | Russia Says It Has Killed ISIS Leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Airstrike

Russia has claimed it killed Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and scores of other militant leaders.

The defence ministry said today that al-Baghdadi was killed in a Russian strike in late May along with other senior group commanders.

It said the air raid on May 28 that targeted an IS meeting held on the southern outskirts of Raqqa in Syria also killed about 30 mid-level militant leaders and about 300 other fighters.

The ministry said the strike came as IS leaders gathered to discuss the group’s withdrawal from Raqqa, the group’s de facto capital.

Syrian state TV claimed that al-Baghdadi, the world’s most wanted terrorist, was killed last weekend. Previous claims that he had been killed were found to be untrue and seen as propaganda to sway public opinion.

However, this is the first confirmation from sources outside the war torn country.

It was thought that he was hiding out in Iraq, but intelligence agencies say al-Baghdadi, who had a $25,000,000 bounty on his head, fled to Syria during the battle to retake Mosul.

This is a breaking news story and is being updated with more information as it comes.

The post BREAKING | Russia Says It Has Killed ISIS Leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Airstrike appeared first on SIGNAL.

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Also, Like us on facebook </s> Russia’s Defense Ministry says it is investigating reports that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in one of its airstrikes in Syria last month.

The airstrike on May 28 was carried out on the outskirts of the militant group’s de facto capital Raqqa, on a command post where ISIS leaders were meeting, according to Russian state media reports.

 “According to information, which is being verified via different channels, the meeting was also attended by the (ISIS) leader Ibrahim Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was eliminated in the strike,” the ministry said, according to the TASS report in English. Other state media reported that more than 300 “terrorists” were killed in the strike.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is confirmed dead, according to information from tribal leaders close to ISIL in the Deir ez-Zor Governorate. In June, Russia said it had "most likely" killed al-Baghdadi and several other high profile ISIL leaders in an airstrike but provided no evidence.