Russian Security Services are verifying whether ISIS leader al-Baghdadi is still alive

Russian services are verifying contradictory intelligence on whether ISIS leader Abu Bakr Baghdadi is dead or alive, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday.

Abu Ali Basri, the head of the Iraqi Interior Ministry’s intelligence and counterterrorism department was quoted as saying Sunday that Baghdadi “is hiding in Syria, to be precise outside Raqqa.”

The claim came nearly a week after ISIS reportedly confirmed its leader’s death in a statement.

On Tuesday, the Al Sumaria News broadcaster claimed that the Daesh issued a statement confirming Baghdadi’s death.

On June 16, the Russian Defense Ministry said Baghdadi was likely to be eliminated as a result of a Russian Aerospace Forces strike on a militant command post in the southern suburb of the city of Raqqa in late May. It noted that it was in the process of confirming the information through various channels.

Source: Sputnik