US Commander Says No Proof Islamic State Leader is Dead

[lindaikeji]

BOOK INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS TICKETS LOCAL FLIGHTS HOTELS BOOKINGS WORLDWIDE AND MORE AT CHEAPEST RATE EVER! CLICK HERE TO BOOK YOUR FLIGHT AND RECEIVE YOUR FLIGHT TICKET INSTANTLY

Loading...

The commander of coalition forces in Iraq said he hoped Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was "deader than a doornail," but he cautioned that regardless of whether the terror leader was alive or dead, the fight to reclaim all of Iraq from the group's grip was far from over.

"I don't have a clue," Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend told Pentagon reporters Tuesday when asked about Baghdadi's fate during a briefing from Baghdad. "Don't have a reason to believe he's alive. Don't have a reason to believe he's dead."

Townsend offered an additional thought: "If he is dead, that means someone's running ISIS and I think that they're trying to keep his death quiet for their own morale."

There has been a steady stream of reports regarding Baghdadi's death in recent weeks, including claims by the Russians, the Syrians and the Iranians.

Earlier Tuesday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had information confirming the death of the IS leader.

"We learned of it today but we do not know when he died or how," director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.