Iraqi air strike hits ‘convoy of Islamic State leader’

In a statement on Sunday, the Iraqi military said the country’s Air Force had hit the convoy of Ibrahim al-Samarrai aka Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, but added that his fate is as of yet unknown.

The reported bombing of al-Baghdadi comes as the U.S. and its allies staged 24 air strikes on ISIS in Syria and Iraq yesterday.

According to the statement, the convoy was struck as it was “moving towards Karabala [located five kilometers from the border with Syria] to attend a meeting of the Daesh (ISIS) terrorist leaders”.

Karabla is on the Euphrates river, barely three miles (5km) from the border with Syria.

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 statement was released by the “war media cell”, a structure which provides updates on the war against IS and speaks for the interior and defence ministries as well as the paramilitary Popular Mobilisation forces.

A military statement claimed the strike had taken purportedly place in the Iraqi province of Anbar but admitted it was unclear if al-Baghdadi had been killed.