The Su-35 is a multi-role super-maneuverable single-seat fighter jet which carried out a number of sorties against ISIL positions in Syria and may have killed leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi [Xinhua]
The Russian military is currently investigating to verify that its forces had killed Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi in Syria late last month.
Rumors of Al-Baghdadi’s death began to circulate last week, but the Russian Defense Ministry is trying to verify that its SU-34 and SU-35 fighter bombers had killed the Iraqi in the northern Syrian ISIL-controlled city or Raqqa during an air raid on May 28.
Some 300 other ISIL commanders and fighters were killed in that series of air strikes last month.
If confirmed, Al-Baghdadi’s death will be a considerable blow to ISIL, which has already suffered major defeats in former self-declared caliphate capital of Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city.
Russian military intelligence said that the ISIL leader had been in Raqqa to plan escape strategies from Raqqa.
US, Kurdish and Syrian forces are currently separately working to dislodge ISIL from Raqqa, effectively ending the terrorist group’s hold on both Iraq and Syria.
The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies
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