World

US believes ISIS leader al-Baghdadi still alive, despite Iraqi airstrike claim

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Sunni volunteer tribal fighters deploy as they support the Iraqi security forces in liberating the city of Ramadi, Iraq, from Islamic State group militants, in the eastern suburbs of Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's Anbar province, 70 miles (115 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015. (AP Photo) (The Associated Press)

Sunni volunteer tribal fighters patrol in support for the Iraqi security forces in fully liberating the city of Ramadi, Iraq, from Islamic State group militants, as they leave Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's Anbar province, 70 miles (115 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015. (AP Photo) (The Associated Press)

U.S. military officials believe that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State group (ISIS), is still alive, despite claims by the Iraqi military Sunday that its air force struck a convoy carrying the terror leader.

A statement Sunday said "the Iraqi air force carried out a heroic operation targeting the convoy of the criminal terrorist Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi" as he made his way to a meeting in the town of Karablah, in Iraq's western Anbar province. The statement says al-Baghdadi's fate and whereabouts are not known.

A U.S. military source told Fox News that al-Baghdadi did not appear to have been hit in the airstrike. Another U.S. official told Fox News that Iraqi officials were collecting DNA from the scene of the strikes.

The official added that the convoy targeted by the Iraqis resembled those in which al-Baghdadi moved around and operated.

Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool told the Associated Press the military is still investigating whether al-Baghdadi was in the convoy that was struck.

Iraq has claimed strikes on al-Baghdadi in the past.

Fox News' Jennifer Griffin and Lucas Tomlinson contributed to this report.