Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi 'seriously wounded' in Western airstrike
THE ISLAMIC State's leader has been 'seriously wounded' in an air strike against the terror group, it is reported.
A source in Iraq told the newspaper al-Baghdadi had been injured in the attack by the US-led coalition in the al-Baaj district province of Nineveh, near the Syrian border.
Although his wounds were originally life threatening he has begun to make a recovery.
However, he is no longer in day-to-day control of the Islamic State.
The Islamic State's leaders met shortly after the strike to determine a new leader when they thought al-Baghdadi would die.
He was wounded in al-Baaj near the village of Umm al-Rous on 18 March with a group that was with him.
It is believed al-Baghdadi had been spending his time in al-Baaj because there was barely any US military presence in the area.
Al-Baaj, which resisted the control of deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, has been seen as a refuge for jihadists since the 2003 Iraq War.
Both al-Qaeda and Islamic State used the district's long-established smuggling networks to transport goods between Syria and Iraq before the US started to monitor the area.
A close ally, Auf Abdul Rahman al-Efery, was killed when American jets bombed a convoy he was travelling in near Mosul, Iraq, on December 14.
His deputy, Abu Muslim al-Turkmani was killed at the start of that month.
Al-Baghdadi, 43, was the head of al-Qaeda in Iraq before founding the Islamic State in Iraq in 2010, while he was declared head of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria in 2013.
In June last year, the Islamic State declared itself a caliphate, with al-Baghdadi declared as its 'Caliph' or ruler.
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