Iraq says ISIS leader convoy hit, ISIS denies leader’s death

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Iraqi air force claims to have successfully targeted the convoy of the ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Independent reports.

In a statement, the military said it had hit the convoy in an air raid, adding that his fate remains unknown. The Iraqi military said: "Iraqi air forces have bombed the convoy of the terrorist Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi while he was heading to Karabla to attend a meeting with Daesh commanders."

The military said the location of the planned ISIS meeting was also bombed, and that "many of the group's leaders were killed or wounded".

It said the fate of al-Baghdadi was "unknown". "He was carried away by a vehicle. His health condition is still unclear," the statement said.

A Twitter site which publishes statements from Islamic State said "rumors" that an air strike had targeted Baghdadi were false.

Hospital officials and local residents later told the Reuters news agency that at least eight senior figures from ISIS were killed in the air strikes on the meeting, which struck two houses in the Anbar province of Iraq.

Similar claims of attacks targeting the figurehead for the military group have been made before. It was reported that al-Baghdadi was injured in an air strike in April this year, prompting speculation that he would be forced to step down.