ISIS BOSS ABU BAKR AL-BAGDADI ALLEGEDLY FLEES IRAQ AHEAD OF U.S. ATTACK
Claim is yet to be independently verified.
Image Credits: ISIS video capture
As the US has warned that it would be intensifying its campaign against Islamic State insurgents in the wake of the beheading of American journalist James Foley, the militant groups chief Abu Bakr al-Bagdadi is reported to have fled Iraq for Syria.
A senior Kurdish official has been quoted as saying that al-Bagdadi escaped as part of a convoy on 10 August.
Said Zinni, a spokesperson for the Kurdistan Democratic Party, told the World Tribune: According to our intelligence sources, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi travelled to Syria as part of a convoy of 30 Hummer vehicles after fearing being targeted by US airstrikes.
The claim is yet to be independently verified.
Kurdish officials suspect al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed Islamic caliph, has been forced to flee after the killing of many top commanders of the insurgent group in the ongoing US offensive.
Al-Baghdadi was believed to have been operating from Mosul, the first city captured by the takfiri extremists in Iraq.
The US has been pressing ahead with its aerial offensive in the northern parts of Iraq in coordination with Kurdish Peshmerga ground forces which are being equipped with weapons by Nato members.
The attacks are reported to have forced IS to move some of its fighters from northern Iraq to areas in Syria.
Whoever has authorisation from ISIL is transferred to areas near Mosul. Others are sent to the fighting in Syria after three days of military training at the Kindi training camp, a Kurdish security source was quoted as saying by World Tribune.
ISILs Al Baghdadi flees Iraq for Syria as U.S. steps up air strikes
Special to WorldTribune.com
LONDON The commander of Islamic State of Iraq and Levant was said to have fled Iraq amid U.S. air strikes on Kurdistan.
Officials said ISIL commander Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi left his headquarters in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul around Aug. 10. They said Al Baghdadi, a nomme de guerre, fled from Iraq to neighboring Syria as Iraq and the United States intensified air strikes on ISIL positions.
In a statement to the London-based newspaper A-Sharq Al Awsat, Zinni did not identify the dead ISIL chiefs. He said Kurdish forces, called Peshmerga, were succeeding in halting ISILs advance through Kurdistan as well as in the Diyala province to the south.
Officials said ISIL was moving its fighters out of northern Iraq to Syria amid an air campaign by NATO. They said at least four NATO states were supplying the Kurds with a range of weapons and ground platforms.
Whoever has authorization from ISIL is transferred to areas near Mosul, a Kurdish source said. Others are sent to the fighting in Syria after three days of military training at the Kindi training camp.
The latest Western state to send arms to the Kurds was identified as France. Officials said the French military delivered heavy weapons expected to be used by Kurdish forces.
We are still waiting for more weapons from our allies, Kurdish Security Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Halgurd Hikmat said.
Claim is yet to be independently verified.
Image Credits: ISIS video capture
As the US has warned that it would be intensifying its campaign against Islamic State insurgents in the wake of the beheading of American journalist James Foley, the militant groups chief Abu Bakr al-Bagdadi is reported to have fled Iraq for Syria.
A senior Kurdish official has been quoted as saying that al-Bagdadi escaped as part of a convoy on 10 August.
Said Zinni, a spokesperson for the Kurdistan Democratic Party, told the World Tribune: According to our intelligence sources, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi travelled to Syria as part of a convoy of 30 Hummer vehicles after fearing being targeted by US airstrikes.
The claim is yet to be independently verified.
Kurdish officials suspect al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed Islamic caliph, has been forced to flee after the killing of many top commanders of the insurgent group in the ongoing US offensive.
Al-Baghdadi was believed to have been operating from Mosul, the first city captured by the takfiri extremists in Iraq.
The US has been pressing ahead with its aerial offensive in the northern parts of Iraq in coordination with Kurdish Peshmerga ground forces which are being equipped with weapons by Nato members.
The attacks are reported to have forced IS to move some of its fighters from northern Iraq to areas in Syria.
Whoever has authorisation from ISIL is transferred to areas near Mosul. Others are sent to the fighting in Syria after three days of military training at the Kindi training camp, a Kurdish security source was quoted as saying by World Tribune.
ISILs Al Baghdadi flees Iraq for Syria as U.S. steps up air strikes
Special to WorldTribune.com
LONDON The commander of Islamic State of Iraq and Levant was said to have fled Iraq amid U.S. air strikes on Kurdistan.
Officials said ISIL commander Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi left his headquarters in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul around Aug. 10. They said Al Baghdadi, a nomme de guerre, fled from Iraq to neighboring Syria as Iraq and the United States intensified air strikes on ISIL positions.
According to our intelligence sources, Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi traveled to Syria as part of a convoy of 30 Hummer vehicles after fearing being targeted by U.S. airstrikes, a senior Kurdish official, Said Zinni, said.
Zinni, spokesman of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, said Al Baghdadi left Mosul around Aug. 10. He said several of Al Baghdadis top commanders have been killed in the Kurdish offensive.In a statement to the London-based newspaper A-Sharq Al Awsat, Zinni did not identify the dead ISIL chiefs. He said Kurdish forces, called Peshmerga, were succeeding in halting ISILs advance through Kurdistan as well as in the Diyala province to the south.
Officials said ISIL was moving its fighters out of northern Iraq to Syria amid an air campaign by NATO. They said at least four NATO states were supplying the Kurds with a range of weapons and ground platforms.
Whoever has authorization from ISIL is transferred to areas near Mosul, a Kurdish source said. Others are sent to the fighting in Syria after three days of military training at the Kindi training camp.
The latest Western state to send arms to the Kurds was identified as France. Officials said the French military delivered heavy weapons expected to be used by Kurdish forces.
We are still waiting for more weapons from our allies, Kurdish Security Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Halgurd Hikmat said.
