Iraqi PM: Islamic State leader injured in airstrike
Haider al-Abadi confirms ‘caliph’ of the jihadist group survives raid near Syrian border for the second time
Tamar Pileggi is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel.
Abu-Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed caliph of the Islamic State, has been seriously injured in an Iraqi airstrike, a regional news outlet reported Tuesday.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told the pan-Arab newspaper al-Hayat that al-Baghdadi was wounded during an airstrike on al-Qa’im, a town some 400 kilometers (250 miles) northwest of Baghdad, al-Arabia reported.
“His survival was a miracle,” Abadi told the newspaper, and added that the leader of the Islamic State was moved to another location following the airstrike.
Abadi went on to say that although the Islamic State no longer posed a threat to Baghdad, the Iraqi military was unable to confront the jihadist group if it continued to recruit thousands of young fighters from across the region.
The Iraqi prime minister also said that Islamic State militants have turned their sights to Kurdistan after realizing they were unable to capture southern Iraq.
According to the report, the Iraqi leader said there was good economic and military cooperation with Kurdistan, and said there was “mutual trust” between the Iraqi government and the semi-autonomous region.
Although technically party of Iraq, Kurdistan functions largely outside Baghdad’s control, and remains in dispute with the Iraqi government on issues of territorial control of the country’s northern regions.
“I’ve told them that if they continue to adopt that previous approach… of taking what they can from Iraqi lands until they achieve separation, then they must be clear. And if they’re willing to stay in Iraq, we’re willing to share bread,” Abadi said according to al-Arabia, referring to territorial gains made by Kurdish forces in northern Iraq during major offensives against Islamic State militants last year.
In November, Baghdadi was reportedly injured in a US airstrike in al-Qa’im, however an audio recording of the group’s leader released shortly after the raid denied reports that he had been injured.
The US-led coalition against the Islamic State, which is made up of more than 30 countries, has launched airstrikes against Islamic State positions in Iraq and Syria since mid-2014.
