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Syrian Watchdog Says ISIS Leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi Is Dead

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a tweet it has "confirmed information" about Baghdadi's death.
Posted at 10:38 AM, Jul 11, 2017
and last updated 2017-07-11 10:38:35-04

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been killed.

The war monitoring group said in a tweet Tuesday it has "confirmed information" about Baghdadi's death. 

And its director told Reuters that information came from ISIS leaders, "including one of the first rank."

It's unclear exactly how and when Baghdadi was killed.

His death has been reported several times since 2014, when he made his first and only public appearance on video at Mosul's Great Mosque of al-Nuri. That was shortly after his group declared its caliphate.

Most recently, the Russian Defense Ministry said it may have killed him during an airstrike in late May. But U.S. officials weren't able to confirm that report.