White House Has No Update on Russian Report of Baghdadi’s Death

June 16, 2017

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. administration on Friday was unable to provide any update on a report by Russia’s defense ministry that it may have killed Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in an air strike near the Syrian city of Raqqa last month, a White House official said.

There was no initial independent confirmation that Baghdadi had been killed. The U.S.-led coalition fighting against Islamic State militants said it could not confirm the death, and several Iraqi officials told Reuters they were skeptical.