The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told Reuters on Tuesday that it had “confirmed information” that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been killed. “(We have) confirmed information from leaders, including one of the first rank, in the Islamic State in the eastern countryside of Deir al-Zor,” the director of the British-based war monitoring group Rami Abdulrahman told Reuters. Baghdadi’s death had been announced many times before but the Observatory has a track record of credible reporting on Syria’s civil war. Abdulrahman said Observatory sources in Syria’s eastern town of Deir al-Zor had been told by Islamic State sources that Baghdadi had died “but they did not specify when.”Iraqi and Kurdish officials did not confirm his death. Islamic State-affiliated websites and social media feeds have not carried any news regarding the leader’s possible death.

Source: Egypt Independent July 11, 2017 12:11 UTC