In case the rumors turn out to be true, it would be a major victory for the US-led coalition of countries who are relentlessly carrying out airstrikes against ISIL and providing assistance to Iraqi forces who are fighting to regain large areas of Iraq that the militants have overrun.
Already President Barack Obama has unveiled plans to send up to 1,500 more US troops to Iraq to advise and train the country’s forces, deepening Washington’s commitment to the open-ended war against ISIL. As President Obama has said, it was time to go on the offensive against the militants after blunting their advance.
Regarding rumors about al-Baghdadi, a senior Iraqi intelligence official said there was no “accurate information” on whether he was killed but that authorities were investigating.
US Central Command, which oversees American forces in the Middle East, on Saturday said that coalition aircraft had carried out a “series of airstrikes” against “a gathering of [ISIL] leaders near Mosul” but there was no confirmation on whether [ISIL] leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi was among those present.
General Nicholas Houghton, the chief of staff of the British armed forces, has said that it will take some days to have absolute confirmation. On whether the ISIL leader has been killed.
Incidentally, Washington has offered a $10 million reward for his capture.
It may be noted that of the five main Al Qaeda offshoots in Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia, the Sahel and Yemen, none has recognized the authority of Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi - at the end of June he had proclaimed the establishment of a caliphate straddling Iraq and Syria, and had also proclaimed himself as “leader for Muslims everywhere”.
