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posted by martyb on Wednesday July 12 2017, @06:27AM   Printer-friendly
from the who/what-will-fill-the-vacuum? dept.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has claimed to have confirmed information that indicates the Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead. Russia's Defense Ministry said in mid-June that it may have killed Baghdadi in an airstrike in late May:

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told Reuters on Tuesday that it had "confirmed information" that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been killed.

The report came just days after the Iraqi army recaptured the last sectors of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, which Baghdadi's forces overran almost exactly three years ago.

Russia's Defence Ministry said in June that it might have killed Baghdadi when one of its air strikes hit a gathering of Islamic State commanders on the outskirts of the Syrian city of Raqqa. But Washington said it could not corroborate the death and Western and Iraqi officials have been skeptical.

Reuters could not independently verify Baghdadi's death.

A top U.S. general sees no evidence that Baghdadi is alive:

The top American commander in the fight against the Islamic State said Tuesday that the elusive leader of the terrorist group, who has been hunted for years, may finally appear to be, well, no longer alive. Army Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend didn't go so far as to say that he believes Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead, but he did acknowledge in a briefing with Pentagon reporters that he has not seen evidence that he is still around.

"I really don't know. ... I don't have reason to believe that he's alive. I don't have proof of life," Townsend said — the furthest U.S. officials have gone in the wake of repeated reports that the terrorist leader has been taken out.

Reuters notes that Baghdadi "has frequently been reported killed or wounded" since 2014.


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  • (Score: 2) by looorg on Wednesday July 12 2017, @10:26AM (7 children)

    by looorg (578) on Wednesday July 12 2017, @10:26AM (#538016)

    The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights is a fancy name for an anti-Assad organization made up out of people that have, for one reason or another, fled Syria. They are anti-government and anti-Assad. That doesn't make them pro-ISIS, but it does make them pro-opposition, or whatnot but they clearly have an axe to grind vs the Assad government.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @12:59PM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @12:59PM (#538049)

    Isn't this the "organization" that turned out to be one guy in a London apartment?

    • (Score: 2) by looorg on Wednesday July 12 2017, @01:36PM (4 children)

      by looorg (578) on Wednesday July 12 2017, @01:36PM (#538062)

      Yes, that is the one. It was founded by one guy in an apartment somewhere around London, but as I recall it he claims to have a few hundred informants in Syria that is feeding him information. That he then does some sort of analysis work on and presents his evidence to the world.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @01:40PM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @01:40PM (#538064)

        Yeah, well, I claim to be Linus Torvalds.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @02:38PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @02:38PM (#538108)

          Yeah, well, I claim to be Linus Torvalds.

          I claim to be Theo de Raadt, so you'd best watch out.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @08:56PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @08:56PM (#538332)

            I bow to your superior OS development skills!

      • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday July 12 2017, @05:04PM

        by bob_super (1357) on Wednesday July 12 2017, @05:04PM (#538178)

        Has he claimed that Assad is pursuing WMDs yet? There are traditions ...

  • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Wednesday July 12 2017, @01:24PM

    by Thexalon (636) on Wednesday July 12 2017, @01:24PM (#538059)

    Oh, I was going to say, the "Syrian Observatory for Human Rights" sounded like a Syrian government organization with approximately the same role as Saddam Hussein's Iraqi Information Ministry.

    --
    The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.