Al-Aribya News is reporting that ISIS leader Abu-Bakr Al-Baghdadi may have been critically injured or killed in a U.S. airstrike that targeted a meeting of ISIS leadership. The strike near Mosul, Iraq killed tens of people and injured many. American forces have confirmed the strike, but haven’t given any information on Al-Baghdadi’s status.
U.S. Central Command confirmed in a statement that U.S.-led air strikes targeted ISIS leaders near their northern Iraqi hub of Mosul late Friday, without confirming whether Baghdadi was killed, AFP reported.
“This strike demonstrates the pressure we continue to place on the ISIL [ISIS] terrorist network and the group’s increasingly limited freedom to maneuver, communicate and command,” U.S. Central Command said.
Anbar province MP Mohammad al-Karbuli told Al Arabiya News Channel that coalition aircraft had targeted a gathering of ISIS leaders in al-Qaim that led to the killing of tens of people and wounded many more.
Karbuli said chaos ensued the air raid with ISIS members scrambling to transport their wounded to al-Qaim hospital which was overwhelmed with the number of patients.
Reuters news agency quoted two witnesses as saying an air strike targeted a house where senior ISIS officers were meeting, near al-Qaim.
The witnesses said ISIS fighters had cleared a hospital so that their wounded could be treated. ISIS fighters used loudspeakers to urge residents to donate blood, the witnesses said.
The agency also quoted residents as saying there were unconfirmed reports that ISIS’ local leader in the western Iraqi province of Anbar and his deputy were killed.