Russia has claimed it killed Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and scores of other militant leaders.
The defence ministry said today that al-Baghdadi was killed in a Russian strike in late May along with other senior group commanders.
It said the air raid on May 28 that targeted an IS meeting held on the southern outskirts of Raqqa in Syria also killed about 30 mid-level militant leaders and about 300 other fighters.
The ministry said the strike came as IS leaders gathered to discuss the group’s withdrawal from Raqqa, the group’s de facto capital.
Syrian state TV claimed that al-Baghdadi, the world’s most wanted terrorist, was killed last weekend. Previous claims that he had been killed were found to be untrue and seen as propaganda to sway public opinion.
However, this is the first confirmation from sources outside the war torn country.
It was thought that he was hiding out in Iraq, but intelligence agencies say al-Baghdadi, who had a $25,000,000 bounty on his head, fled to Syria during the battle to retake Mosul.
This is a breaking news story and is being updated with more information as it comes.
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