Is ISIS' leader dead? Rumours circulate after Baghdadi's convoy hit by airstrike

A convoy carrying ISIS' leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, has been hit by Iraq's air force, according to a military statement.

The air-strikes targeted a meeting of ISIS leaders and the convoy carrying al-Baghdadi there. Eight senior ISIS figures were killed, according to sources in local hospitals, but Baghdadi's body was not among the dead.

The man purported to be Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi at a rare appearance in Mosul, Iraq. Generally he remains out of sight and his existence remains a mysteryReuters

"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 [ISIS] commanders," the Iraqi military said in a statement.

"The location of the meeting was also bombed and many of the group's leaders were killed and wounded. The fate of murderer al-Baghdadi is unknown and he was carried away by a vehicle. His health condition is still unclear."

The statement, which said the attack happened at midday on Saturday, should be treated with some caution, the BBC's Jim Muir said, as Iraqi statements on the results of military action have been unreliable in the past.

A US military official in Baghdad said the United States had not received any indication that Baghdadi was killed or even injured.

A Twitter page which publishes statements from ISIS said "rumours" that an air strike had targeted Baghdadi were false.

Additionally a separate ISIS supporter on Twitter said that even if Baghdadi was killed, the caliphate would live on.

"Do you think we would leave the State of the caliphate and abandon it, oh vile world?," the supporter asked. "This is the religion of God, it rose on the skulls of heroes and martyrs and every time one of them is martyred we rise."

Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed caliph of all Muslims, has survived a year of US-led airstikes in Iraq as well as multi-sided warfare throughout Iraq and Syria. His existence is shrouded with mystery and little detail is known about him or his whereabouts. Even his closest ISIS fighters do not speak about seeing him face-to-face.

There have been several previous reports about the ISIS' leaders death or serious injury but none of them have been confirmed. One such report in November 2011 was followed a few days later by an audio message from Baghdadi himself, apparently confirming his survival.

There is little to suggest this report will prove any more conclusive.