ISIS Leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi’s Death confirmed ; US Skeptical

Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been confirmed killed, war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has said.

"(We have) confirmed information from leaders, including one of the first rank, in [Isis territory] in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor," director of the UK-based group Rami Abdulrahman told Reuters on Tuesday.

However, there has been no confirmation from Isis' official news agency Amaq. SOHR's sources did not say when Baghdadi supposedly died, or how, except that he is supposed to have been living in the Deir Ezzor area for the last three months.

The Pentagon, Kurdish and Iraqi sources were all quick to say they could not corroborate the SOHR report.

"We take any report



of this nature with a large dose of salt," Sebastian Gorka, deputy assistant to US President Donald Trump, said in an interview with Fox News after the SOHR claim surfaced.

"We will verify it. We will look at the intelligence available... and we will give a statement when we have the requisite facts."

The US put up a $25 million (£19 million) reward for Baghdadi's capture - the same it has offered for al Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and his successor Ayman al-Zawahri.

It is not yet known if any individual or organization will claim the bounty.

The notorious jihadi is believed to be in hiding in the region around the Syria-Iraq border, moving frequently and avoiding telecommunications to evade detection.