Early reports indicate ISIS Leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi was part of a 10 vehicle military convoy targeted by US airstrikes Friday November 7th 2014. Unsubstantiated reports say ISIS chief Al-Baghdadi was “critically wounded” in latest air-raid.
The coalition airstrike took place near the Northern Iraq town Mosul which is ~400km north of Baghdad and ~100KM from the Syrian border. Mosul is the largest city controlled by Islamic State, ISIS took control of the city June 2014 during their Northern Iraq offensive.
ISIL leaders Targeted
Unsubstantiated reports on Titter by PaulaSlier_RT @PaulaSlier_RT the “Middle East bureau chief for Russia Today. Reporting from the Middle East and Ukraine.”
#Breaking: Reports say #ISIS chief al-Baghdadi was ‘critically wounded’ in latest air-raid.
Colonel Patrick Ryder United States Central Command (USCENTCOM) confirmed an attack on ISIL leaders : “We cannot confirm if ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was among those present…”
“This strike demonstrates the pressure we continue to place on the ISIL terrorist network and the group’s increasingly limited freedom to maneuver, communicate and command.”
The successful airstrike comes a day after the US announced an additional 1,500 troops would be deployed to Iraq to to assist the Kurdish troops fighting the Islamic State threat.
Islamic State Leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi
According to Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi biography which was circulated on jihadist forums July 2013, Al-Baghdadi born in 1971 near Samarra, Iraq and obtained a BA, MA and PhD in Islamic Studies from the Islamic University of Baghdad.
In October 2011, the US listed Al-Baghdadi as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” and offered a reward of up to US$10 million for information leading to his capture or death.
Al-Baghdadi aided the foundation of the militant group Jamaat Jaysh Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamaah (JJASJ) when the US invaded Iraq in 2003. In 2006 JJASJ joined the Mujahideen Shura Council (MSC) which was later renamed Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) where he’s been the supervisor of the sharia committee and senior consultative council.
If Al-Baghdadi was killed during the convoy air-raid it would be a major blow to the ISIS leadership.
