Eight senior figures from Islamic State were killed in an air strike while meeting in a town in western Iraq, but the group’s reclusive leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi did not appear to be among them, residents of the town and hospital sources said.Iraq said on Sunday its air force had hit the meeting and had also struck a convoy that was carrying Baghdadi to attend it. It said Baghdadi had been driven away from the convoy in an unknown condition.The Iraqi military’s announcement was the latest unconfirmed report of the possible death or injury of Baghdadi, who has survived a year of U.S.-led air strikes and multi-sided wars in two countries since proclaiming himself caliph of all Muslims after his forces swept through most of northern Iraq last year. Regardless of whether or not al-Baghdadi survived, the fact that Iraqi forces were able to track and target him reveals that Iraq’s intelligence gathering and networking is drastically improving, allowing them to get credible tip-offs on the whereabouts of the elusive militant. And while it is possible that IS can have a post-Baghdadi life, the death of a charismatic and powerful leader of any group results in a power struggle, splinter groups and a loss of morale. The fate of IS in such an eventuality is unlikely to be any different. The improved Iraqi operations coincide with Russia’s precise and effective military operation in Syria, the other major stronghold of IS. With Iraq recently joining an alliance with Russia, Iran and Syria to target IS, it seems that IS is faced with the most concentrated pushback to date and it is hoped that its grip on large parts of both Iraq and Syria is quickly loosened. After years of dillydallying and contradictory policies of the US about targeting IS through the questionable and largely inefficient means of proxies, the certitude of this Russia-bolstered operation engenders optimism about eliminating the existential threat of an organisation as ruthless and far-reaching as IS.
pk.shafaqna.com
