Isis leader al-Baghdadi ‘seriously wounded’

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State group, is no longer in day-to-day control of the group after he was seriously injured in an air strike in March, according to reports.

Two official sources in Iraq told the Guardian newspaper that the strike took place on 18 March in the al-Baaj district of Nineveh, 200 miles west of Isis stronghold Mosul.

Baghdadi was so badly injured that Isis leaders initially thought he was going to die and made plans to appoint and announce a new leader.

Read more: who is al-Baghdadi and what does he want?

Operation Inherent Resolve

The attack is understood to have occurred while Baghdadi was travelling in a three-car convoy between the village of Umm al-Rous and al-Qaraan, near Iraq’s border with Syria.

The attack, conducted by the coalition of international nations as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, was targeting local Isis leaders, and officials were initially unaware that Baghdadi was travelling in one the cars.

Military Airstrikes Continue Against #ISIL in #Syria and #Iraq: http://t.co/dP8J0wOR69

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 18, 2015

The self-styled leader of the jihadi group had been in the Sunni tribal area as he knew “the Americans did not have much cover there”, sources said.

He has been recovering slowly from his attack, and in his absence Isis’s military and Shura (consultative) council have taken more responsibility for decision-making.