Russia claims killing ISIL leader Baghdadi

[GennGreymane]

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/0...082539284.html

Russia has claimed killing the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group in an air strike targeting a meeting of ISIL leaders just outside the fighters' de-facto capital in Syria.

The Russian defence ministry said it was checking claims that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in a Russian strike in May along with other senior group commanders.

There had been previous reports of Baghdadi being killed but they did not turn out to be true.

"On May 28, after drones were used to confirm the information on the place and time of the meeting of [ISIL] leaders, between 00:35 and 00:45, Russian air forces launched a strike on the command point where the leaders were located," the statement said.

"According to the information which is now being checked via various channels, also present at the meeting was [ISIL] leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was eliminated as a result of the strike."

The US-led coalition fighting ISIL said it could not confirm the Russian report.

"We cannot confirm these reports at this time," said US Army Colonel Ryan Dillon, spokesman for the coalition's Operation Inherent Resolve.

Al Jazeera's Stefanie Dekker, reporting from Gaziantep on the Turkey-Syrian border, said "it has been claimed before [that Baghdadi was killed]".

OPINION: Baghdadi dead or alive - Does it matter?

"It's [also] been claimed that he's been injured before, which is why everyone always treats these reports with extreme caution," she said.

"But it is the first time that we're hearing this from the Russian defence ministry, and we also had Syrian state media announce this last week."

The last public video footage of Baghdadi is from 2014 where, dressed in black robe, he is declaring his "caliphate" from the pulpit of Mosul's medieval Grand al-Nuri mosque.

Born Ibrahim al-Samarrai, Baghdadi, 46, broke away from al-Qaeda in 2013, two years after the capture and killing of the group's leader, Osama bin Laden.

Rami Abdulrahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), cast doubt on the report Baghdadi may have been killed.

He said that according to his information, Baghdadi was based in another part of Syria towards the end of May.

"The information is that as of the end of last month, Baghdadi was in Deir Az Zor, in the area between Deir Az Zor and Iraq, in Syrian territory," Reuters news agency quoted Abdulrahman as saying.

Questioning what Baghdadi would have been doing in that location, he said: "Is it reasonable that Baghdadi would put himself between a rock and a hard place of the [US-led] coalition and Russia?"

The strike is believed to have killed several other senior leaders of the group, as well as about 30 field commanders and up to 300 of their personal guards, the Russian statement said.

[Gaidax]

Wonderful news if true, even if not - hitting and killing so many ISIS terrorists at once is 10/10.

Wonder why US could not do this.

[Vapo]

Wonderful news if true, even if not - hitting and killing so many ISIS terrorists at once is 10/10.

Wonder why US could not do this.

just wondering about how many collaterals there was with this strike, russia doesnt care for those at all, while US tries to avoid them.

[Gaidax]

just wondering about how many collaterals there was with this strike, russia doesnt care for those at all, while US tries to avoid them.

Remind me how many Iraqis died as a result of 2003 Invasion of Iraq? US caring about collaterals after destroying 3 countries in a span of a mere decade, OMEGALOL.

To be brutally honest though? I could not case less about collateralsm, especially with such a juicy gathering - if ISIS would have been fought like this - there would have not been any ISIS already or at least not in the scope they exist now and as I see it - it would probably save more lives in the end.

[Bakis]

It's not confirmed by any means but I hope it is, congrats to Russian intel work (presumably) if it turns out to be true.

[Uzkin]

just wondering about how many collaterals there was with this strike, russia doesnt care for those at all, while US tries to avoid them.

US doesn't care for the collaterals at all, while Russia tries to avoid them.

No matter which way around you want to spin the morals and intentions behind the strikes the fact is the airstrikes from both parties kill civilians. Or do you just ignore all the reports of US-coalition strikes killing civilians because they don't fit into your world view? Or do you arbitrarily classify them as "Ah, that was an unfortunate accident!" or "Oh, that was an unexcusable war crime!" based on which side did it?

[xenogear3]

By looking at his picture, he seems a nice guy.

[Blade Wolf]

Doubt it'll put a dent in ISIS, they got another leader eager to take his place.

[Independent voter]

This is good news!

[Deleted]

So I guess the Syrian media was right last week http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...d-in-Airstrike

ISIS still have one big stronghold left. The fight is a long way from over.

[Alakallanar]

Wonderful news if true, even if not - hitting and killing so many ISIS terrorists at once is 10/10.

Wonder why US could not do this.

That's actually the main reason, why many are very sceptical. It is known ISIS practice to never ever gather in such large groups, precisely for that reason.

It's not confirmed by any means but I hope it is, congrats to Russian intel work (presumably) if it turns out to be true.

Apparently it wasn't a planned assault on Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, but rather a "collateral" accomplishment. (If true.)

[Breccia]

Wonder why US could not do this.

Because
1) Trump says he knows more than the generals and has a grand plan to defeat ISIS.
2) Then outsourced the job to other people while golfing and tweeting.
3) Trump won't harm relations with Russia by going into Syria, at least not with the force required.

Trump's priorities lie elsewhere. Stopping ISIS would not make him richer, so he did not do it.

"But Trump is an egomaniac! Surely defeating the head of ISIS would make him better liked!"

True, but it probably sounded like a lot of work. Trump doesn't do things that require more than 140 characters. He figured his limited time was better spent saying JOBS in all caps, then deciding his son's wedding planner should run the NY branch of the Department of Housing.

[Draco-Onis]

Honestly at this point does it matter? these guys are like hydra you kill one another takes their place.

[Kontinuum]

It's like the fifth time he's been killed.

[Alakallanar]

Honestly at this point does it matter? these guys are like hydra you kill one another takes their place.

If true, it would be kind of a big deal for them. ISIS considered itself a caliphate and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi their caliph. While second-in-command and lower is relatively easy to replace, getting a new caliph wouldn't be easy. There are certain requirements for a sunni caliph. Most importantly he must be a descendant of the Quraysh (tribe of the Prophet). Finding a new caliph wouldn't be that easy and without one they couldn't consider themselves a caliphate. This might seem unimportant to us, but for ISIS it is very important because it could dampen morale and recruitment.

[Adam Jensen]

If true, the world just got slightly better.

The world can use fewer people like Al Baghdadi in it.

[Machismo]

US doesn't care for the collaterals at all, while Russia tries to avoid them.

No matter which way around you want to spin the morals and intentions behind the strikes the fact is the airstrikes from both parties kill civilians. Or do you just ignore all the reports of US-coalition strikes killing civilians because they don't fit into your world view? Or do you arbitrarily classify them as "Ah, that was an unfortunate accident!" or "Oh, that was an unexcusable war crime!" based on which side did it?

Umm, Russia has had no problem bombing the shit out of civilian areas.

[Bakis]

Umm, Russia has had no problem bombing the shit out of civilian areas.

He is a 100%-Putin-is-lovely poster so he wont acknowledge that neither US or Russia pay little attention to civilians.

[Uzkin]

He is a 100%-Putin-is-lovely poster so he wont acknowledge that neither US or Russia pay little attention to civilians.

Ah, seems like your prejudice interferes with your ability to read (or at least to comprehend what you read).

[Anon56]

just wondering about how many collaterals there was with this strike, russia doesnt care for those at all, while US tries to avoid them.

The pentagon trolls are out in force today.

On topic, it's nice to see that at least one country is doing something to stop terrorism. That's a great achievement if true, they're really doing an amazing work out there.