Just Because It's Trending Doesn't Mean It's True

Iraq: We 'Hit' ISIS Leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi

  • by: Alan Duke
  • (Sun, 11 Oct 2015 15:01:58 Z)

ISIS Leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi was wounded and is possibly killed in an aerial attack on his contact in Iraq's Anbar province, Iraq's air force claimed Sunday.

"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 October 11, 2015, Iraqi statement said. Daesh is the Arabic acronym for ISIS.

The U.S. Defense Department said Sunday that it could not "corroborate or confirm the Iraqi government claim of striking or killing Baghdadi at this point."

There have been Iraqi claims in the past that al-Baghdadi had been wounded but they were never confirmed.

Some doubt about the ISIS leader's demise came from a Reuters report quoting hospital sources and residents saying that he was not among the wounded or dead from the airstrike.

An Iraqi website claims photos it has published show a wounded al-Baghdadi.

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About the author:

Editor-in-Chief Alan Duke co-founded Lead Stories after ending a 26-year career with CNN, where he mainly covered entertainment, current affairs and politics. Duke closely covered domestic terrorism cases for CNN, including the Oklahoma City federal building bombing, the UNABOMBER and search for Southeast bomber Eric Robert Rudolph. CNN moved Duke to Los Angeles in 2009 to cover the entertainment beat. Duke also co-hosted a daily podcast with former HLN host Nancy Grace, "Crime Stories with Nancy Grace" and hosted the podcast series "Stan Lee's World: His Real Life Battle with Heroes & Villains." You'll also see Duke in many news documentaries, including on the Reelz channel, CNN and HLN.

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