Breaking: Iraq says heaviliy injured Baghdadi escaped to Syria and the man on ISIL video is ‘indisputably’ not Baghdadi
The Iraqi government says a video footage purporting to show the head of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorist group in the northern city of Mosul was falsified.
Interior Ministry spokesman Brigadier General Saad Maan said that the footage posted on the Internet on Saturday allegedly showing Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi at Mosul’s grand mosque was “indisputably” not him. Baghdadi in fact was injured in a bombardment and escaped to a Syrian town according to reports.
“We have analyzed the footage … and found it is a farce,” he said.
Maan said army units had recently wounded Baghdadi in an air strike and that he had been transferred by ISIL militants to Syria for medical treatment.
A video was published by the ISIL, claiming to show Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi for the first time, ordering all Muslims to “obey” him.