Russia Has No Official Confirmation of Al-Baghdadi Elimination – Kremlin Spokesman

Moscow has not received official confirmation of the elimination of leader of the Daesh* terrorist group Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, spokesman for the Russian President Dmitry Peskov stated.

“No, we have no confirmation”, Peskov said in response to a corresponding question.

However, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a day earlier the Kremlin believes it will be possible to talk about Trump’s serious contribution to the fight against terrorism if the death of al-Baghdadi is confirmed.

The statement comes after Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said during a press briefing on 28 October that the United States is not prepared to release video or photos of the US special forces raid of al-Baghdadi’s compound in Syria.

On 27 October, US President Donald Trump announced that US forces hunted down al-Baghdadi in Syria’s Idlib province. Trump said al-Baghdadi blew up himself and three accompanying children by detonating a suicide vest when he was trapped at the end of a tunnel. The Russian Defence Ministry said that it had possessed no reliable data regarding the US operation and had reasons to question its credibility.