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DAMASCUS, June 10 (Xinhua) -- Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State (IS) militant group, is said to have been wounded by U.S.-led coalition air raids near the Syrian-Iraqi borders, local media reports said.
The Iraqi Al Sumariya TV cited local sources in Iraq's Nineveh province that al-Baghdadi along with other IS commanders was wounded overnight, when air raids targeted their hiding places near the Syrian borders.
Meanwhile, the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition reportedly said it cannot confirm the reports, apparently waiting for stronger concrete evidence. But the coalition didn't deny carrying airstrikes at that given time and place.
Further details about the possible injuring of al-Baghdadi are still forthcoming.
Al-Baghdadi has declared himself the Caliph of all Muslims in the world, a move deemed as absurd by the majority of moderate Muslims.
The IS has taken hold in several areas in Iraq and Syria.
Recently the U.S. coalition and its allied rebels on ground, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) unleashed a wide-scale offensive against the IS de facto capital of al-Raqqa and other key strongholds of the IS in Syria with the aim of weakening the group.
The SDF made notable advance near al-Raqqa and the city of Manbej on the Syrian-Turkish borders.
