Russia’s Defense Ministry has cast doubt on US claims of killing Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi despite the evidence of his death from Turkey, an Astana format partner, and Iraq’s joint intelligence-sharing center.
Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, the chief of media services for the Russian Defense Ministry, said, “The escalating number of direct participants and countries that supposedly took part in the ‘operation,' each one with completely contradictory details, justifiably raises questions and doubts about whether it happened, never mind succeeded.”