Iraq air force hits convoy of ISIL leader Baghdadi: statement

BAGHDAD - Reuters

The Iraqi air force struck a convoy of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in western Anbar province close to the Syrian border on Oct. 11, a military statement said. 

The fate of the militant leader, who has declared himself the leader of a caliphate in areas his ultrahardline Sunni group controls in Iraq and Syria, is unknown, the military said. 

"Iraqi air forces have bombed the convoy of the terrorist Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi while he was heading to Karabla to attend a meeting with Daesh commanders," the statement read, using the Arabic acronym for ISIL. 

The military said the air force bombed a location where Baghdadi was planning to meet ISIL commanders. 

"The location of the meeting was also bombed and many of the group's leaders were killed and wounded. Fate of murderer al-Baghdadi is unknown and he was carried away by a vehicle. His health condition is still unclear," the military said. 

ISIL has seized swathes of Syria and Iraq and in June declared a caliphate over territory it controls. Baghdadi said he had accepted oaths of allegiance from supporters in Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Algeria.