Middle East News: Reports Disagree on Whether or Not ISIL Leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Was Injured in Air Strike in Iraq
A series of airstrikes carried out by United States, Iraqi and coalition aircrafts against the Islamic State positions and troops may have wounded the group's elusive leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Iraqi officials announced that the leader was wounded, but American officials did not confirm al-Baghdadi's status.
The first airstrike happened on Friday against an IS convoy near the city of Mosul in northern Iraq, according to NBC News. The airstrike targeted a convoy of armed trucks, destroying 10 of them. Members of IS' leadership were believed to be in the convoy, which was part of a meeting of leaders, but U.S. officials could not confirm al-Baghdadi was among them.
Iraq's defense and interior ministries both say that the IS leader was wounded, according to The Associated Press. However, they disagree as to when that happened.
Defense Minister Khalid Obeidi said on his Facebook page that al-Baghdadi had been injured in the Mosul attack, but the Interior Ministry said he had been injured in another attack the following day in the town of Qaim.
U.S. military officials confirmed an attack was carried out in Qaim but did not go as far as claiming al-Baghdadi was present when the attacks happened.
"We have no information to corroborate reports that ISIL leader al-Baghdadi has been injured," Air Force Col. Patrick Ryder, spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said.
According to Asharq al-Awsat, al-Baghdadi was not present at the convoy. Kurdish sources from the Kurdistan Democratic Party say the IS leader was injured some 20 days prior after another coalition airstrike.
The strike in Qaim, according to CNN, targeted a checkpoint in the town's marketplace and killed around 15 people and wounded 31. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported to the AP that the injured were brought to the nearby Syrian town of Boukamal, but their sources could not confirm the identities of the injured.
In a later airstrike in the city of Fallujah, Iraqi state television reported that Abu Huthaifa al-Yamani, an aide to al-Baghdadi, was killed, reports Reuters.
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