<div>Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of Islamic State, has been seriously wounded in an air strike in western Iraq, a media report said today.<br /><br />According to the report, Baghdadi, 44, suffered life- threatening injuries during the attack by the US-led coalition in March.<br /><br />Two officials – a western diplomat and an Iraqi adviser – confirmed the strike took place on March 18 in the al-Baaj a district of Nineveh, close to the Syrian border, The Guardian reported.<br /><br />"Yes, he was wounded in al-Baaj near the village of Umm al-Rous on 18 March with a group that was with him," Hisham al-Hashimi, an Iraqi official who advises Iraq on IS, was quoted by the newspaper as saying.<br /><br />Baghdadi has made a slow recovery since then. He, however, has not resumed day-to-day control of the organisation. Baghdadi's injuries led to urgent meetings of Islamic State leaders, who initially believed he would die and made plans to name a new leader, the newspaper quoted sources as saying.<br /><br />There had been two previous reports in November and December of Baghdadi being wounded, though neither was accurate. In October 2011, the US State Department had listed Baghdadi as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, and announced a reward of up to USD 10 million for information leading to his capture or death.<br /><br />In recent months, coalition air strikes have been increasingly effective in targeting the IS leadership. Baghdadi’s deputy, Abu Muslim al-Turkmani, and the head of the group’s military operations in Iraq were both killed in early December.<br /><br />After seizing control of a large swath of Iraq and Syria last June, and threatening Baghdad and Irbil, the IS has recently lost substantial ground in both countries.</div>
<div>Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of Islamic State, has been seriously wounded in an air strike in western Iraq, a media report said today.<br /><br />According to the report, Baghdadi, 44, suffered life- threatening injuries during the attack by the US-led coalition in March.<br /><br />Two officials – a western diplomat and an Iraqi adviser – confirmed the strike took place on March 18 in the al-Baaj a district of Nineveh, close to the Syrian border, The Guardian reported.<br /><br />"Yes, he was wounded in al-Baaj near the village of Umm al-Rous on 18 March with a group that was with him," Hisham al-Hashimi, an Iraqi official who advises Iraq on IS, was quoted by the newspaper as saying.<br /><br />Baghdadi has made a slow recovery since then. He, however, has not resumed day-to-day control of the organisation. Baghdadi's injuries led to urgent meetings of Islamic State leaders, who initially believed he would die and made plans to name a new leader, the newspaper quoted sources as saying.<br /><br />There had been two previous reports in November and December of Baghdadi being wounded, though neither was accurate. In October 2011, the US State Department had listed Baghdadi as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, and announced a reward of up to USD 10 million for information leading to his capture or death.<br /><br />In recent months, coalition air strikes have been increasingly effective in targeting the IS leadership. Baghdadi’s deputy, Abu Muslim al-Turkmani, and the head of the group’s military operations in Iraq were both killed in early December.<br /><br />After seizing control of a large swath of Iraq and Syria last June, and threatening Baghdad and Irbil, the IS has recently lost substantial ground in both countries.</div>