Pentagon cannot confirm status of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

 

(IraqiNews.com) The spokeswoman for the US Department of Defense (Pentagon), Elissa Smith said that international coalition forces targeted an ISIS meeting last Friday near Mosul, but could not confirm the injury of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the organization.

ISIS spokesman, Abu Mohammed Aladnana stated—via his Twitter account—that the ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had been injured, without specifications about the nature or timing of the injury.

Smith in her comments on this piece of news, “I can confirm that on Friday evening the coalition aircraft carried out a series of raids in Iraq targeting a gathering of ISIS leaders, and destroyed a convoy of armored vehicles belonging to ISIS near Mosul.”

Smith continued, “We, however, cannot confirm whether the ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was among them during the raids.”

She also pointed out the lack of details about the attacks, adding, “These attacks represent the pressure which we continue to aim against ISIS, its freedom to maneuver, communication and leadership that is constantly shrinking.”

 

Read more:

• ISIS confirms Baghdadi’s injury [11/10/2014]
• URGENT: Iraqi Interior Ministry confirms the injury of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
• URGENT: ISIS spokesman confirms Baghdadi’s injuries
• URGENT: ISIS spokesman confirms Baghdadi’s injury in Mosul
• USA needs more time to confirm al-Baghdadi’s death says Britain’s Chief of Defense
• Death or injury of ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi unconfirmed by US Central Command
• Iraqi Interior Ministry reveals names of ISIS casualties, confirms ISIS leader was moved to Syria after his injury