MOSCOW (TIP): Russia said June 16 it was verifying whether the elusive Islamic State terror group chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had been killed in a targeted Russian airstrike in strife-torn Syria last month.

The airstrike on May 28 was carried out on the outskirts of the dreaded militant group’s de facto capital Raqqa, on a command post where IS leaders were holding a meeting, according to Russian state media reports.

“According to information, which is being verified via different channels, the meeting was also attended by the (IS) leader Ibrahim Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was eliminated in  the strike,” the ministry said, according to the TASS news agency.

The leaders were discussing their exit from the city through the so-called southern corridor, the ministry said. The airstrike was carried out following drone footage confirmation of the council’s meeting location, state-run Sputnik reported.

Other state media reported that more than 300 “terrorists” were killed in the strike. Earlier, the Russian army, in a statement, said Sukhoi warplanes carried out a 10-minute night-time strike on May 28 at a location near Raqqa, where IS leaders had gathered to plan a pullout by militants from the group’s stronghold.

There have been a number of previous reports of Baghdadi’s death. This is the first time, however, that Russia has said it may have killed the IS leader. Other media reports have previously claimed he had been killed or critically injured by US-led coalition air strikes.

Reacting to the report, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told journalists that there is no one-hundred-per cent confirmation yet that leader of the Islamic State terror group outlawed in Russia, al-Baghdadi, has been killed, ” So far, I have no one-hundred-percent confirmation of this information,” Lavrov said.

The Pentagon said on Friday, June 16, it did not have information to support Moscow’s claims that its forces may have killed Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in an air strike near the Syrian city of Raqqa last month. “We have no information to corroborate those reports,” Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said, Reuters reported.

US defense officials said they were unable to confirm the reports. Col. Ryan Dillon, a spokesman for the US-led coalition’s operation against IS in Syria and Iraq, said the coalition “cannot confirm these reports at this time.” There has been no official comment from Syria’s government, the BBC reported.

So far, there has been minimal reaction from online supporters of IS to news of the reported death of the group’s leader, it said. One high-profile IS supporter on the messaging app Telegram shared a post denying the news and saying that when an IS leadership figure is killed, the group does not hide it.

He expected Baghdadi to come out soon with a message to prove he was still alive. The IS has earned global notoriety for imposing a hardline form of Islam that has included stonings, beheadings and amputations. (Source: PTI)