ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi 'killed in US-led coalition air strike': reports

ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi 'killed in US-led coalition air strike': reports

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group's leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been killed in an air raid in Syria by the US-led coalition, reports said on Monday.

Baghdadi died in an air strike on ISIS's stronghold of Raqqa in northern Syria, Iranian state media and pro-government Turkish daily Yenis Safak said, citing ISIS-affiliated Arabic news agency al-Amaq.

The statement published by Amaq said ISIS's 'Caliph' Baghdadi had been killed on Sunday, according to the media reports.

"Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been killed by coalition airstrikes on Raqqa on the fifth day of Ramadan," said the statement.

The coalition did not immediately comment on the report.

Earlier on Monday, Iraqi TV channel 'Al-Sumaria' said that Baghadi had been wounded on Sunday in a coalition air strike on a location 65 kilometres west of the IS-held city of Mosul. Read more.

Russia raids on Syria city kill 23 civilians

Russia raids on Syria city kill 23 civilians

Russian warplanes pounded an Al-Qaeda-held city in northwestern Syria before dawn on Tuesday killing 23 civilians in the heaviest strikes in months, a monitoring group said.

Dozens of civilians were also wounded in the raids on Idlib, a provincial capital held by Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front and its allies since March last year, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Al-Nusra is not party to a Russian-and US-brokered ceasefire that went into force on February 27 between Moscow-backed government forces and Washington-backed non-jihadist rebels.

"The air strikes are the most intensive on Idlib since the beginning of the truce," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told.

"Even though Idlib is not covered by the truce, it had been relatively calm with only intermittent raids," he added.

The strikes hit near a hospital and a public garden.

Moscow has been carrying out an air campaign in support of its Damascus ally since September last year.Read More

Britain carries out first Syria airstrikes

Britain on Thursday carried out its first airstrikes against Islamic State (IS) in Syria, hours after members ofparliament voted overwhelmingly to authorise military action.

Royal Air Force (RAF) Tornado jets took off from the Akrotiri base in Cyprus and the defence ministry later confirmed that they had carried out the "first offensive operation over Syria and have conducted strikes", The Guardian reported.

The Britain four RAF jets carried a range of munitions including Paveway IV guided bombs and precision-guided Brimstone missiles.

The strikes focused on six targets in an oil field under IS control in eastern Syria.

The strikes came hours after members of the House of Commons late Wednesday night voted by 397 to 223 in favour of sending Tornado jets to seek out IS targets in Syria.

A total of 66 opposition Labour Party MPs voted in favour with the government.

The defence ministry is expected to give details of the targets later on Thursday.

The targeting of oil infrastructure is part of its strategy to deprive the extremists of their funding and revenue streams.

The RAF was already carrying out operations against IS in Iraq.

Article Source: Business Standard.