Sputnik - Daesh terrorists confirmed the group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead, Al Sumaria TV channel reports citing a source in the Iraqi province of Nineveh.





According to�the source, Daesh terrorists issued a brief statement in�which they reported the death of�their leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as�well as�the name of�the "new Caliph."


On June 16, the Russian Defense Ministry said al-Baghdadi was likely eliminated as�a result of�a Russian Aerospace Forces strike on�a militant command post in�the southern suburb of�the city of�Raqqa in�late May. It noted that it was in�the process of�confirming the information through�various channels.On June 23, US Operation Inherent Resolve Col. Ryan Dillon said that the US has no conclusive evidence to�believe that Baghdadi was killed in�Russian airstrikes. However, the US "certainly would welcome the death of�al-Baghdadi, but�we do not have any definitive proof to�lead us believe that this is accurate," he added.

On June 29, Russian lawmaker Alexei Pushkov told Sputnik that the information of�the Russian side the probability of�al-Baghdadi's death is about�100 percent. The lawmaker noted that information received from�different sources indicated that there was a power struggle within�Daesh for�its top position, which serves as�signal that al-Baghdadi is dead.

Al-Baghdadi appeared in�the media for�the first time in�2014 when he declared the creation of�a caliphate in�the Middle East. Since then, the media have reported several times about�the death of�the Daesh leader, though the information has never been confirmed.