Sources told Al Arabiya News Channel Saturday that Baghdadi was ‘critically wounded’ when a U.S.-led air strike targeted the western Iraqi border town of al-Qaim.

Iraqi officials confirmed Sunday reports of the wounding of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militant group, in a coalition air strike over the weekend.

Both Iraq’s Defense and Interior Ministries issued statements saying Baghdadi had been wounded, without elaborating, the Associated Press reported.

On Saturday, tribal sources told Al Arabiya News Channel that Baghdadi was “critically wounded” when a U.S.-led air strike targeted the western Iraqi border town of al-Qaim. They said other senior ISIS members were killed in the attack that targeted a gathering of ISIS leaders.

The Associated Press on Sunday quoted an Iraqi Interior Ministry intelligence official as saying the strike happened early Saturday in the town which is located in Iraq’s Anbar province.

The official, citing informants within the militant group, said the strikes wounded Baghdadi, AP reported.

A senior Iraqi military official also said he learned in operational meetings that Baghdadi had been wounded, the agency also said.

Neither knew the extent of al-Baghdadi’s apparent injuries.

 
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