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ISIL Leader Al-Baghdadi Injured in Airstrike in Iraq

© AP Photo / Militant videoLeader of the Islamic State group Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
Leader of the Islamic State group Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi - Sputnik International
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It's reported that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State (ISIL) terrorist group, was seriously wounded in an airstrike in western Iraq.

Leader of the militant Islamic State Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. (File) - Sputnik International
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The leader of the Islamic State (ISIL) terrorist group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was seriously wounded in an airstrike in western Iraq, the Guardian reported Tuesday, citing three sources.

“Yes, he was wounded in al-Baaj near the village of Umm al-Rous on 18 March with a group that was with him,” Hisham Hashimi, an Iraqi adviser on the ISIL, told the Guardian.

Another source in Iraq with connections to ISIL militants said that though al-Baghdadi’s injuries were at first life-threatening, his state of health has improved. He has not yet returned to daily command of the group, the source added.

An unnamed western diplomatic spokesman confirmed the date and place of the attack. He stated that the US-led coalition airstrike targeted several local ISIL leaders and killed three men, the Guardian reported.

Members of the Iraqi security forces chant slogans in Al Hadidiya, south of Tikrit, en route to the Islamic State-controlled al-Alam town, where they are preparing to launch an offensive on Saturday, March 6, 2015 - Sputnik International
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In November and December 2014, media reported that al-Baghdadi was wounded in airstrikes. Both reports proved to be inaccurate.

Al-Baghdadi is believed to have been spending time in the Iraqi village of al-Baaj, near the Syrian border.

Al-Baaj, a predominantly Sunni area, has long been outside the control of the Iraqi government, and was considered a stronghold for jihadists since 2004.

Islamic State (ISIL) is a radical Sunni group, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The ISIL has seized large areas in Iraq and Syria and have declared a caliphate on territories under their control.

A US-led coalition of over 60 nations is currently carrying out airstrikes against ISIL positions in Iraq and neighboring Syria.

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