Lavrov: Death of the ISIS leader Baghdadi in Russian airstrike yet to be confirmed

Russia is yet to confirm the death of ISIS leader Baghdadi in a Russian airstrike in Syria’s Raqqa, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Friday its attack and multirole aircraft may have killed Baghdadi on the southern outskirts of Raqqa on May 28. It noted that it was in the process of confirming the information through various channels.

Sergei Lavrov commented on the information, saying that Russia doesn’t have 100 percent proof of the ISIS leader’s elimination.

“Of course, I have heard about these reports. So far, I have no 100 percent confirmation of this information yet,” Lavrov said during a news conference in Moscow.

“All examples of such actions on the destruction, ‘beheading’ of terrorist groups have always been presented with great enthusiasm, however, history shows that the fighting capacity of these structures [terror groups] were then restored,” Lavrov added, noting that this concerns both Daesh and al-Nusra Front.

The ISIS leader may have been killed alongside other leaders of the extremist group and 330 terrorists in a Russian Aerospace Forces strike late last month, the Russian Defense Ministry said Friday.

Al-Baghdadi appeared in the media for the first time in 2014 when he declared the creation of a caliphate in the Middle East. Since then, the media several times reported about the death of ISIS leader, though the information has never been confirmed.

On Sunday, the Syrian state television reported that Baghdadi was killed as a result of US strikes in Raqqa.

Source: Sputnik