New Delhi:
Russia's Defence Ministry on Friday said it was checking information that a Russian air strike on May 28 near the Syrian city of Raqqa may have killed Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The ministry claimed as a result of the strike, Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was eliminated and that the information is now being checked by various channels.
But this is not the first time Baghdadi’s death is being claimed. Such reports of IS leader’s death or him being seriously injured had also made headlines in the past and the most recent came on June 11 this year.
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# On June 11, 2017, Syrian state TV has claimed al-Baghdadi has been killed in a US-backed airstrike.
# On October 3, 2016, various media outlets claimed that al-Baghdadi and 3 senior ISIL leaders were poisoned by an assassin but still alive.
# On June 14, 2016, Middle Eastern media claimed that al-Baghdadi had been killed in a US airstrike in Raqqa on 12 June. However, the report could not be confirmed by the coalition spokesmen.
# On June 9, 2016, Iraqi State TV claimed that al-Baghdadi had been wounded in a US airstrike in Northern Iraq. Coalition spokesmen could not confirm this report as well.
# On October 11, 2015, it was claimed that al-Baghdadi’s convoy in the western Anbar province close to the Syrian border was bombed by the Iraqi air force while he was heading to Kerabla to attend an ISIL meeting.
# On July 20, 2015, The New York Times rubbished rumors that al-Baghdadi had been killed or injured earlier in the same year.
# In April 2015, The Guardian reported that al-Baghdadi was recovering from the severe injuries which he had received during the airstrike on 18 March 2015, in a part of Mosul.
# It was also reported that a spinal injury which had left him paralyzed meant that he might never be able to fully resume direct command of ISIL.
