Iraqi air force says it bombed ISIS meeting, ISIS leader's convoy

Peter Weber, The Week US's avatar
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On Sunday, Iraq's air force said it bombed a convoy carrying Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Iraq's western Anbar Province, as he was en route to a meeting of ISIS commanders in Karbala. "The location of the meeting was also bombed and many of the group's leaders were killed and wounded," Iraq's military said in a statement. "The fate of murderer al-Baghdadi is unknown and he was carried away by a vehicle. His health condition is still unclear."

Several Arab news reports claim the 44-year-old self-proclaimed "caliph" was killed but Reuters, citing local citizens and hospital officials, says he wasn't among the eight senior ISIS leaders who died in the Iraqi attack. The U.S. military was noncommittal, saying it had no indication that al-Baghdadi was killed. ISIS supporters said on Twitter and to Reuters that ISIS would live on regardless of its leader's fate. Peter Weber

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Peter Weber, The Week US
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.