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| Abu Suja, left, and Baghdadi were rarely separate, according to an Iraqi security strategist |
A close aide of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in United States-led coalition air strike on a convoy of militants in Iraq, it can be revealed, amid mounting speculation that the leader of the Islamic State in the Levant was himself killed or injured in the attack.
Abdul Rahman al-Athaeri who went by the code name Abu Suja died when planes struck a convoy of Isil vehicles close to the northern city of Mosul on Friday night, killing him and several other members of the jihadist group.
There were contrasting reports about the fate of Baghdadi, with Isil members writing on Twitter that he was not in the convoy, and other sources claiming that he had been either killed or "critically injured". "I can't absolutely confirm that Baghdadi has been killed," said General Nicholas Houghton, Chief of the Defence Staff of the British Armed Forces. "Probably it will take some days to have absolute confirmation."
Hisham al-Hashimi, an Iraqi security strategist, confirmed to The Telegraph that Abu Suja, "Baghdadi's very close companion", was killed in the air strike that destroyed at least 10 vehicles. » | Ruth Sherlock, Gaziantep and Magdy Samaan in Cairo | Sunday, November 09, 2014
