Citing a source from Iraq’s Falcon’s intelligence cell, AFP reported that Hudayfah al-Badri had been killed in Russian airstrikes on Homs. The Russian military had reportedly fired three missiles at a cave, in which 30 terrorists, including Baghdadi’s son, were hiding.
“Badri wasn’t even a fighter… he was an icon that was moved from one place to another as a form of psychological propaganda for the rest of the organization,” AFP cited the Falcons as saying, adding that 11 militants had been killed during the attack on the terrorist shelter.
Daesh leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been pronounced dead on numerous occasions, but is believed to still be alive, an Iraqi intelligence official said in May. The self-proclaimed caliph is said to be in a region controlled by the terrorists, on the border east of the Euphrates River.
Back in 2014 the terrorist group declared a cross-border “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria, capturing vast territories during extensive offensives on both war-ravaged countries.
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Following a series of sweeping counter-terror operations, the Syrian government and Russia, as well as the US-led coalition and the Iraqi authorities managed to liberate over 90 percent of the territory Daesh had seized.
*Daesh, also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS, is a terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries.