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		</div><p>Russia is trying to verify reports that its military has killed the leader of the Islamic State group in an air strike targeting a meeting of militant leaders.</p>
<p>The Defence Ministry claimed that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in late May with other senior group commanders just outside the group&#8217;s de facto capital in Syria, adding that information is &#8220;being verified through various channels&#8221;. Foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said: &#8220;I don&#8217;t have a 100% confirmation of the information.&#8221;</p>
<p>There have been previous reports of al-Baghdadi being killed but they did not turn out to be true.<br />
The IS leader last released an audio recording on November 3, urging his followers to keep up the fight for Mosul as they defend the Iraqi city against a major offensive. A spokesman for the US-led anti-IS coalition said he could not confirm the Russian claim.</p>
<p>The report of al-Baghdadi&#8217;s death comes as IS suffers major setbacks in which they have lost wide areas of territory and both of their strongholds &#8211; Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria. Both are still under attack by various groups fighting under the cover of air strikes by the US-led coalition.</p>
<p>As the militants take a pounding in their eroding strongholds, US officials and Syrian activists say many commanders have fled Mosul and Raqqa in recent months for Mayadeen, a remote town in the heart of Syria&#8217;s IS-controlled Euphrates River valley near the Iraqi border. Their relocation could extend the group&#8217;s ability to wreak havoc in the region and beyond for months to come.</p>
<p>Most recently, the group claimed attacks in Iran&#8217;s parliament and a shrine to revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in Tehran, killing at least 17 people and injuring more than 50. It also claimed the June 3 London attack that killed eight people. Both attacks would have taken place after al-Baghdadi&#8217;s alleged killing.</p>
<p>Mr Lavrov said that if al-Baghdadi&#8217;s death is confirmed, its importance must not be overestimated.<br />
He said that &#8220;past examples of similar actions to strike the leadership of terrorist groups were presented with much enthusiasm and pomp, but the experience shows that those structures later regained their capability&#8221;.</p>
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