According tothe source, Daesh terrorists issued a brief statement inwhich they reported the death oftheir leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, aswell asthe name ofthe "new Caliph."
On June 16, the Russian Defense Ministry said al-Baghdadi was likely eliminated asa result ofa Russian Aerospace Forces strike ona militant command post inthe southern suburb ofthe city ofRaqqa inlate May. It noted that it was inthe process ofconfirming the information throughvarious channels.On June 23, US Operation Inherent Resolve Col. Ryan Dillon said that the US has no conclusive evidence tobelieve that Baghdadi was killed inRussian airstrikes. However, the US "certainly would welcome the death ofal-Baghdadi, butwe do not have any definitive proof tolead us believe that this is accurate," he added.
On June 29, Russian lawmaker Alexei Pushkov told Sputnik that the information ofthe Russian side the probability ofal-Baghdadi's death is about100 percent. The lawmaker noted that information received fromdifferent sources indicated that there was a power struggle withinDaesh forits top position, which serves assignal that al-Baghdadi is dead.
Al-Baghdadi appeared inthe media forthe first time in2014 when he declared the creation ofa caliphate inthe Middle East. Since then, the media have reported several times aboutthe death ofthe Daesh leader, though the information has never been confirmed.
# Tags
