Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told Reuters on July 11 that it had "confirmed information" that Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been killed.
   

Members of the jihadist group Islamic State admitted the death of its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. This was announced by the TV channel "Alsumaria", referring to the local source in the Nainawa province of Iraq.

The Islamic State militant group (ISIS) has staged a new offensive against Iraqi forces south of Mosul, slaughtering soldiers and civilians as it nears a U.S. military installation.

Some 300 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant fighters remain in the small patch of territory still controlled by the group in Mosul's Old City, a senior Iraqi commander said on July 5.

The Iraqi military announced on Thursday that special forces had recaptured the iconic Mosul mosque where jihadist chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made his only known public appearance, AFP reported.

A top special forces commander told AFP that while the Nuri mosque - which was blown up by the Islamic State group last week -- was close to being recaptured, it had not been retaken yet.

The battle to take full control of Mosul from Islamic State of  Iraq and the Levant will be over in a few days and an attempted fight-back by the militants failed, an Iraqi general told Reuters on June 26.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has said it is "highly likely" that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of Islamic State (IS, former ISIS/ISIL), was eliminated in an airstrike carried out by the Russian Air Force in Syria earlier in May.

The Russian army on Friday said it had struck a meeting of Islamic State leaders in Syria on May 28 and was trying to verify whether the group's leader had been killed, news agencies said on Friday, AFP reported.

Moscow said on June 16 that its forces may have killed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in an air strike near the Syrian city of Raqqa last month.

The Russian army on June 16 said it hit Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) leaders in an airstrike in Syria last month and was seeking to verify whether ISIL chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had been killed.