The Russian army on Friday said it was seeking to verify whether Islamic State chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed when its warplanes hit the group's leaders in a night raid in Syria last month. The United States said it could not immediately confirm whether Baghdadi, the undisputed leader of global jihadism, was dead. The elusive Iraqi-born Islamist is the world's most-wanted man and has not been seen in public since proclaiming himself "caliph" in the Iraqi city of Mosul three years ago.
Russia's army said Sukhoi warplanes carried out the 10-minute raid at a location near the IS stronghold of Raqa, where group leaders had gathered to plan a pullout from the area.