On Friday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that the Russian aerospace forces’ strike conducted on May 28 allegedly killed Daesh leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi south of Raqqa. The report is yet to be confirmed.
The Daesh leader may have been alongside other leaders of the extremist group and 330 terrorists killed in the airstrike.
The ministry said its Su-34 strike aircraft and Su-35 multirole fighter attacked a so-called Daesh military council south of Raqqa in northern Syria on May 28.
“According to information that is checked through various channels, Daesh leader Ibrahim Abu-Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was killed as a result of the strike, was also present at the meeting,” the ministry said in a statement.
“As a result of the Su-35 and Su-34 airstrikes, high-ranking commanders of the terrorist groups who were part of the so-called IS military council, as well as about 30 mid-level field commanders and up to 300 militants of their personal security, have been killed,” the statement read.
The Russian Defense Ministry obtained information about the upcoming “military council” in late-May. The meeting was planned to discuss an exit plan from the Daesh stronghold of Raqqa through the “southern corridor.”
Later in the day, the US-led coalition said that it could not confirm the death of Baghdadi, but noted it would welcome the news if confirmed.
“There have been several past claims of this kind that have been proven false and we have seen no definitive proof that this report is true either,” a coalition spokesperson told Sputnik. “However, the Coalition and the global community would welcome the news of al-Baghdadi’s demise.”
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, there have been several reports of his death, none of which were confirmed though. On Sunday, the Syrian state television reported that Baghdadi was presumably killed as a result of US strikes in Raqqa.
‘Severe Blow’ to Terrorists
The alleged death of al-Baghdadi could help facilitate the liberation of Raqqa, the de facto capital of Daesh, according to Russian Senator Viktor Ozerov, chairman of the Council of the Federation Committee on Defense and Security.
“Ultimately, this will help solve the task of freeing Raqqa,” Ozerov toldSputnik.