The leader of the Islamic State (IS) terror group, is believed to have been killed in a raid conducted by the American military in northwest Syria. CNN reported of the development citing a senior US defence official and an informed source as saying of the incident that took place on Saturday.
However, a final confirmation was pending, while DNA and biometric testing was being conducted, both sources told CNN.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump teased a major announcement, tweeting Saturday night (US Time) that “Something very big has just happened!”.
Russia Today has cited Newsweek as reporting that the terrorist was killed in a special operation raid in Syria's northwestern Idlib province, greenlighted by Trump about a week ago.
Meanwhile, Fox News has also quoted military sources saying that a "high-value ISIS target" believed to be the Islamic State leader has been killed by U.S.-led forces in Idlib, Syria.
Meanwhile, the White House has announced that Trump is scheduled to make a major announcement on Sunday at 9:00 am (local time).
Trump administration has not revealed whether the matter is related to foreign or domestic policy.
Baghdadi, who is now 47, appeared for the first and last time in public in Mosul in 2014, where he declared an Islamic "caliphate" in the swathes of territory IS then held in Syria and Iraq. He was reported killed or injured multiple times since then.
IS has since released various audio messages that it claims are from Baghdadi -- most recently, one in September 2017 that appeared to make reference to news events that happened after Russia claimed he was dead.
This August, the IS had released what it said was a new audio message from al-Baghdadi where he admitted that the IS groups were losing and that it was a test from Allah, saying they needed to stick together.
(inputs from agencies)