Iraq IS: Military claims al-Baghdadi convoy hit

Iraq's air force has hit a convoy of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a military statement says.

The fate of the IS leader was unknown, it said. The strike has not been independently confirmed.

The attack is said to have happened in western Anbar province, near the Syrian border.

There have previously been reports that the IS leader has been killed or seriously injured in attacks, but none was subsequently confirmed.

The Iraqi air force "bombed the convoy of the terrorist Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi while he was heading to Karabla to attend a meeting" with Daesh (IS) commanders", Sunday's statement from an interior ministry intelligence unit said.

Baghdadi was "transported in a vehicle" after the air strike but "his health status is unknown," the statement said.

"The location of the meeting was also bombed and many of the group's leaders were killed and wounded."

Interior ministry spokesman Saad Maan told AFP the strike happened at midday on Saturday.

There has been no official IS response; however one IS media representative said the government's claim aimed to boost the morale of its troops.

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Rumours about Baghdadi's death surfaced earlier this year, after reports that he had been seriously wounded in an air strike in March by the US-led coalition that is opposing IS.

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Reports that he was injured in 2014 were inaccurate.

Baghdadi has been careful to reveal little about himself and his whereabouts, and even his own fighters reportedly do not speak about seeing him face-to-face.

In October 2011, the US officially designated Baghdadi as a "terrorist" and offered a $10m (£5.8m; 7.3m euros) reward for information leading to his capture or death.