ISIS Leaders Injured in Airstrike, Aide Killed

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, has reportedly been injured from a U.S. airstrike attack. His aide, Auf Abdulrahman Elefery who was “a very close companion” of al-Baghdadi was killed. 

The Christian Post reports that an ISIS convoy was struck on Friday night (Nov. 7), killing several militants, including Elefery. 

Hisham al-Hashimi, an Iraqi security analyst said that Elefery “and Baghdadi were rarely separate. It's for this reason that it could be possible that Baghdadi was with him [at the time of the attack]. There are more 20 other people were killed in the US air strike but they are not senior in the organization."

Baghdadi was formerly an Islamic religious leader. He later became a terrorist, receiving training from al-Qaeda and eventually becoming the leader of ISIS. The U.S. government currently has a $10 million bounty on Baghdadi. 

At the same time of the attack that wounded Baghdadi, President Obama has announced that the U.S. will be doubling the number of troops that are serving in Iraq. Currently 1,400 troops are on the ground in Iraq, but 1,500 more soldiers will be deployed to aid Iraqi security forces and fight ISIS terrorists. 

Publication date: November 10, 2014