Rumours that the IS leader was killed have been met with denials. Eight senior IS leaders are thought however to have been killed. An IS-linked twitter account slams death reports as false. Another says that if dies, thousands like him would continue the war.

Baghdad (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Iraqi airstrikes killed eight senior Islamic State (IS) officials in the town of Karabla, Anbar province, which is under IS control, but not the group’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, this according to hospital sources and residents.

The air strike caught IS officials in a convoy heading to a meeting, but the IS leader apparently managed to escape. A Twitter site that posts IS statements said that air strike rumours about Baghdadi are false.

Yesterday, reports had indicated that Iraqi planes had hit a convoy heading for Karabla, and that the IS leader had died from his injuries.

Iraq acknowledged that on Sunday its air force had struck a convoy that was carrying Baghdadi to the meeting, but later noted that report about the death of the IS leader had not been confirmed.

"Iraqi air forces have bombed the convoy of the terrorist Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi while he was heading to Karabla to attend a meeting with Daesh commanders," the Iraqi military statement read. Daesh is the Arabic acronym for Islamic State. 

This announcement was the latest unconfirmed report of Baghdadi’s possible death. A year ago, he was thought to have died in a US-led air strike.

Karabla is a town in Iraq's Anbar province near the Syrian border, an IS stronghold, not to be confused with Kerbala (also spelled Karbala), a Shia holy city in the south.

Hospital sources and residents said airstrikes killed eight senior local leaders of an Islamic State police force in the town, but not the IS leader. IS-linked social media responded noting that their fight would continue even if its leader was killed.

The Iraqi jihadist chief is said to have been born in the city of Samarra in 1971 but little is known about him. The US has put a US$ 10 million bounty on his head.

An IS fighter reached by telephone could not confirm whether Baghdadi had been in a convoy that was struck, but said the group would fight on whatever his fate: "Even if he was martyred then it will not affect Islamic State. We will lose a leader but there are a thousand Baghdadis."

• iraq
• karabla
• al-baghdadi
• strike
• convoy