ISIS Boss Abu Bakr Al-Bagdadi Allegedly Flees Iraq Ahead of U.S. Attack
Image Credits: ISIS video capture
by The Shia Post | August 22, 2014
As the US has warned that it would be intensifying its campaign against Islamic State insurgents in the wake of the beheading of American journalist James Foley, the militant group’s chief Abu Bakr al-Bagdadi is reported to have fled Iraq for Syria.
A senior Kurdish official has been quoted as saying that al-Bagdadi escaped as part of a convoy on 10 August.
Said Zinni, a spokesperson for the Kurdistan Democratic Party, told the World Tribune: “According to our intelligence sources, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi travelled to Syria as part of a convoy of 30 Hummer vehicles after fearing being targeted by US airstrikes.”
The claim is yet to be independently verified.
Kurdish officials suspect al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed Islamic caliph, has been forced to flee after the killing of many top commanders of the insurgent group in the ongoing US offensive.
Al-Baghdadi was believed to have been operating from Mosul, the first city captured by the takfiri extremists in Iraq. The US has been pressing ahead with its aerial offensive in the northern parts of Iraq in coordination with Kurdish Peshmerga ground forces which are being equipped with weapons by Nato members.
The attacks are reported to have forced IS to move some of its fighters from northern Iraq to areas in Syria.
“Whoever has authorisation from ISIL is transferred to areas near Mosul. Others are sent to the fighting in Syria after three days of military training at the Kindi training camp,” a Kurdish security source was quoted as saying by World Tribune.
Militant Islamist fighters parade on military vehicles along the streets of northern Raqqa province Reuters
Another article in the International Business Times dated 17 July 2014
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Sunni militant outfit Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis), is said to have been severely injured in the raging battle forcing him to flee to neighbouring Syria.
According to a report in the Iraqi news network Al Sumaria, the insurgent leader was injured during a raid led by Iraq’s Shiite-led security forces in the west of Anbar.
“The Iraqi security forces carried out an operation in the city of Qaim on the border with Syria based on accurate intelligence and with the help of the Air Force where the leader of ISIL, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi was seriously injured,” said Haidar al-Shara, a representative of the international parliament in Iraq.
However, the report has so far not been independently verified. If confirmed, it will be a severe blow to the militant group which has been marching on several Iraqi cities.
The Iraqi official said: “After being hit, al-Baghdadi, with a range of elements of his organisation fled into Syrian territory because of its proximity to Qaim,” adding: “al-Baghdadi might be killed as a result of the severity of his injuries.”
The extremist leader has been urging Muslims across the world to join his fight against all anti-Islamic forces. Vowing to conquer places across Asia and Europe, he has been threatening to establish an Islamic caliphate across continents.
“So take up arms, take up arms, O soldiers of the Islamic State! And fight, fight,” the self-appointed caliph of the Muslim world had said in a Ramadan message
Sources:
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/iraqi-isis-leader-abu-bakr-al-baghdadi-severely-injured-flees-syria-1455415
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/06/abu-bakr-al-baghdadi-isis
Coercion Code - "Dark Times are upon us" 