Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi 'seriously wounded in an airstrike' in western Iraq and is no longer in 'day-to-day' control of group
Al-Baghdadi's injuries reportedly led Isis members to consider a new leader
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Your support makes all the difference.The leader of the militant group Isis has been seriously wounded in an airstrike in western Iraq and has not yet resumed “day-to-day” control of the group, a report has claimed.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi sustained life-threatening injuries following a bombing campaign by the US-led coalition in March, a source close to Isis was quoted as saying by The Guardian. He is now believed to be slowly recovering, but the seriousness of his condition led senior Isis members concerned he would not survive to begin considering who could replace him at the helm of the extremist group.
However, The Guardian's report was denied by the Pentagon, who said it had no evidence to suggest al-Baghdadi had been wounded.
"There's nothing to indicate that there's been a change," Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren was quoted as saying by AFP.
He said al-Baghdadi had not been a target of the raid referenced in the report.
However there was little information from either Iraqi officials or US defence forces on whether his condition was criticial.
Al-Baghdadi declared himself the 'caliph' of the group’s self-declared ‘Islamic State’ across northern Iraq and Iraq in June 2014. Militants have committed scores of atrocities in its strongholds under his leadership, leading the US and five Arab states to launch a bombing campaign against Isis targets first in Iraq and then in Syria.
A ground campaign led by Iraqi Government forces and Shia militia and supported by coalition airstrikes recently forced Isis to withdraw from Tikrit, the hometown of former dictator Saddam Hussein.
Iraqi forces are now battling a counter-offensive from Isis in Ramaldi after the group seized three villages and a hospital close to government offices in the capital of Anbar province. Police forces said government troops have reclaimed some areas lost to the group, including the hospital, on Monday following fierce clashes.
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