Iraqi air force hits convoy of Islamic State leader Baghdadi: statement

Iraq says it has hit the convoy of the chief of Daesh in an airstrike in the western Anbar Province.

Iraq’s Air Force have reportedly hit a military convoy carrying the leader of Islamic State Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Iraq.

The fate of the militant leader, who has declared himself the leader of a caliphate in areas his ultrahardline Sunni group controls in Iraq and Syria, is unknown the military added.

The venue of the planned meeting was also bombed by Iraqi warplanes with an unknown number of senior members of Daesh killed.

Karabla is located on the Euphrates river barely five kilometres from the border with Syria. It was reported in April that he had been injured in a strike but a voice recording claiming to be Baghdadi was released months later in a bid to dispel the rumour. In November, Iraqi officials said he had been wounded in an airstrike. His health condition is still unclear’. Baghdadi was purportedly being treated by doctors in Mosul and is said to have turned over control of the group to his deputy, Abu Alaa al Afri.

Rumours about Baghdadi’s death surfaced earlier this year, after reports that he had been seriously wounded in an air strike in March by the US-led coalition that is opposing IS.

The military said the air force bombed a location where Baghdadi was planning to meet Islamic States commanders.