The fate of the Islamic State group’s enigmatic leader remained unclear yesterday after the US-led coalition unleashed airstrikes near the Iraqi city of Mosul targeting top extremists late on Friday.
Claims swirled that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had been killed in the attacks, but US officials could not confirm if he had even been present.
US Central Command confirmed that coalition aircraft conducted a “series of airstrikes” against “a gathering of ISIL [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant] leaders near Mosul.”
A convoy of 10 armored vehicles from the group was destroyed, it said.
“We cannot confirm if ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was among those present,” CENTCOM spokesman Patrick Ryder said in his statement.
The news came after US President Barack Obama unveiled plans to send up to 1,500 more US troops to Iraq to help battle the militants.
Iraqi leaders said the new US military trainers who will aid its fight against extremists are welcome, but come “late.”
Meanwhile, Iraqi military forces yesterday reached the center of Baiji, a northern city of about 200,000 people, in an attempt to break an Islamic State siege of the country’s biggest refinery, which is nearby, an army colonel and an eyewitness said.
The troops entered from the south and west and took over the al-Tamim neighborhood and city center, the colonel said.
Baiji resident Sultan al-Janabi told Reuters by telephone from his house that clashes have been raging since the advance, the first time security forces reached the city center since launching a new encirclement strategy at the end of last month.
The colonel estimated that Iraqi forces had taken control of about 40 percent of the city center. That could not be independently confirmed.
Iraqi security forces have used helicopters to attack Islamic State militants surrounding the refinery.
However, months of operations have failed to rescue comrades trapped inside and ensure the strategic site will not fall into the hands of the militants, who have used oil and refined products to fund their self-proclaimed caliphate.
“Violent confrontations are taking place in Baiji right now. I’ve been hearing continuous fire and loud bangs,” Janabi said.
“I keep going up to my roof to peek at the confrontations in the distance and I come down immediately. This has been going on for an hour non-stop,” he said.
On Saturday, about 33 people were killed in a wave of car bombings against Shiite areas in the capital Baghdad, highlighting again the security challenge facing Iraqis even within government-controlled zones.
The bombings also wounded more than 100 people.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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