Caliph, leader of Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been killed

[Annoying]

How do you turn this: "Has ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi been killed in US air strike? Reports say he has died in Raqqa but no confirmation from coalition"

Into this: "Caliph, leader of Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been killed"

Some people need to stop being so annoying by spreading this kind of misinformation where unconfirmed reports, loose rumors and even conspiracy theories are being rendered as facts. What's wrong with people...

Do note that the original title of the linked article was: "Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has reportedly been killed in air strike in Raqqa"

[Forogil]

The odd part is that allegedly it is an Isis-news source that is reporting him dead; and the coalition forces that are unsure. Normally the war propaganda would be the other way. It could be that he was collateral damage of some other bombing, but the more interesting question is:

Assume he isn't dead and the claim is actually from an Isis-news source, the obvious question is 'why would they fake his death?'

Is internal communication just so broken in Isis-land?
Is there some leadership struggle?
Is he trying to resign?
- In some sense those scenarios might even be more promising than him being killed.

[nonameelf]

He's not Caliph, he just called himself Caliph. Caliph is like the Muslim equivalent of the pope and there hasn't been one for a long time.

[Ravenblade]

By now he has been the most-killed person in history of mankind, especially if we are perpetually led to believe the Daily Heil.

[dr2022]

He's not Caliph, he just called himself Caliph. Caliph is like the Muslim equivalent of the pope and there hasn't been one for a long time.

a Caliph is someone elected by the people.

[nonameelf]

a Caliph is someone elected by the people.

No, it's the leader of the entire muslim religion. Pretty much every muslim nation would need to agree on someone for their to be a Caliph again. It's literally the muslim version of the pope. It's not some random jackass in a cave with a handful of followers.

[dr2022]

No, it's the leader of the entire muslim religion. Pretty much every muslim nation would need to agree on someone for their to be a Caliph again. It's literally the muslim version of the pope. It's not some random jackass in a cave with a handful of followers.

No, the Caliph is someone picked by the people. It literally means Predecessor. When the prophet died, one of his discpleses was agreeded on to be the next leader by the poeple. Caliphs in history were leaders of many different arab nations like the Ayubbi's.

[ParanoiD84]

Doubt the coward has left civilian areas where he is shielded from strikes. When he does leave and is by himself though he is a dead man. But as of now he remains hidden amongst civilians raping sex slaves and dodging airstrikes.

They also love to fake thier death's, everything they can do to avoid airstrikes.

[Slant]

I don't know what that noise is supposed to be, but it sounds like something a horse would make.

You're unusually cheery today... :P

[muto]

Calling bullshit on this since it's not on CNN.

[Slant]

even if he was replaced right away, at least thats one more of them dead.

Yeah! At the rate we're going, we only need about... 3000 years to kill all of them! Awesome!

[Deleted]

Yeah! At the rate we're going, we only need about... 3000 years to kill all of them! Awesome!

are you saying we should increase drone strikes?

[Slant]

are you saying we should increase drone strikes?

Yeah, why not. I don't actually care how much you kill, we're already dealing with your mess here. Might as well go ahead and have some fun with it while Europe cleans up after you.

[Deleted]

Yeah, why not. I don't actually care how much you kill, we're already dealing with your mess here. Might as well go ahead and have some fun with it while Europe cleans up after you.

sadly im not actually in charge of the drone strikes here, though it sounds like it would be pretty awesome!

[caervek]

Caliph, leader of Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been killed

*Self proclaimed Caliph.

If I proclaim myself to be pope it does not make me Pope, only ~25,000 out of 1,600,000,000 Muslims recognise him as Caliph.

[Slant]

sadly im not actually in charge of the drone strikes here, though it sounds like it would be pretty awesome!

Spoken like a true US satelite state. So proud of you!

[Deleted]

Spoken like a true US satelite state. So proud of you!

oh i mean the flying the drones would be awesome, not for killing they just look fun to control!

im not a warmonger!

[Adam Jensen]

Yeah, sure. This guy died like 6 times this year already.

Maybe he's secretly a cat, and we only have to kill him 3 more times.

[Alakallanar]

Even if it wasn't, what's the point? A new leader will rise.

Oh well, target practice for drones.

Note that it's not the same as when you hear about "high ranking <insert title here> dies in airstrike".
al-Baghdadi isn't the same, he's a Caliph. He's supposedly selected by god and isn't as simple to replace as promoting someone else to general or w/e. Like @Wildtree said above, the spiritual leader of the movement would be a much larger blow.

If this is true it would be a pretty big hit to morale for IS. And finding a replacement would be nontrivial, since, among other things, caliphs have to come from a certain lineage.

[The Penguin]

I don't know what that noise is supposed to be, but it sounds like something a horse would make.

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