ISIS leader Baghdadi may be dead after a Russian air strike

Social Media Website via Reuters TV

A man purported to be the reclusive leader of the militant Islamic State Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi making what would have been his first public appearance, at a mosque in the centre of Iraq's second city, Mosul, according to a video recording posted on the Internet on July 5, 2014.


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's Defense Ministry said on Friday it was checking information that a Russian air strike near the Syrian city of Raqqa may have killed Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in late May, Russian news agencies reported.

The air strike, targeted a meeting of IS leaders and was carried out on May 28, the agencies cited the ministry as saying.

"According to the information which is now being checked via various channels, Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was eliminated by the air strike, was also present at the meeting," RIA news agency quoted the ministry as saying.

Raqqa is ISIS' de facto capital. Military forces are currently pushing back on ISIS control of both Raqqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq.

The U.S.-led coalition battling ISIS said they could not confirm the reports of Baghdadi's death.

Russia said the May strike also killed about 30 mid-level militant leaders and about 300 other fighters, according to the Associated Press. Among the dead are reportedly ISIS leaders Abu al-Khadji al-Mysri, Ibrahim al-Naef al-Khadj and Suleiman al-Shauah.

(Reporting by Polina Devitt; Writing by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Christian Lowe)