Iraqi air force claims hit on ISIL leader al-Baghdadi

Islamic Extremism

Sunni volunteer tribal fighters patrol in support for the Iraqi security forces in fully liberating the city of Ramadi, Iraq, from Islamic State group militants, as they leave Ramadi, the capital of Iraq’s Anbar province, 70 miles (115 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015. (AP Photo)

Iraq’s air force says it struck a convoy carrying Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State group.

A statement on Sunday said “the Iraqi air force carried out a heroic operation targeting the convoy of the criminal terrorist Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi” as he made his way to a meeting in the town of Karablah, in Iraq’s western Anbar province.

The statement says al-Baghdadi’s fate and whereabouts are not known.

Officials from the U.S.-led coalition bombing the IS group in Iraq and Syria could not immediately be reached for comment.

Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool says the military is still investigating whether al-Baghdadi was in the convoy that was struck.

Iraq has claimed strikes on al-Baghdadi in the past.

Report by Associated Press.