Does IS-leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi survived the recent US attacks in Iraq? The secret in Washington grope claims to itself still in the dark.

Several days after US attacks on facilities of the terrorist organization “Islamic State” (IS) prevails in Washington still perplexity about the fate of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. “We can not confirm that he was killed or wounded,” said Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser to US President Barack Obama, in Beijing.

The US Army had flown several air attacks on IS objectives in the north and west of Iraq at the weekend. On Friday evening an air strike hit a convoy of several vehicles of the jihadists. Several high-ranking terrorists were killed. In the night from Saturday to Sunday, the Air Force is said to have attacked a meeting of IS-cadres, in which apparently also leading members were killed.

The Iraqi Interior Ministry said in a statement, Baghdadi had been taken in the second attack. The Iraqi defense minister stated, however, the self-proclaimed caliph had been wounded in the US attack on Friday evening. Where both sites get their information, is not known.

The United States even further have any certainty. However, Obama’s advisers Rhodes is clear that the message to the IS-terrorists is clear: “If they move, then we will meet them.”

Terror Alliance:US sends soldiers in the troubled province of Anbar

In the fight against the terrorist militia, the US military has sent 50 soldiers in the Iraqi province of Anbar, located largely in the hands of the IS. The troops are to consider whether the Assad air base can be used for the training of Iraqi security forces. The advance party is armed, but only for its own protection.

President Obama decided to send in the coming weeks up to 1,500 more troops to Iraq. They should train and advise Iraqi forces, but not even fight. The Council reaffirmed the Pentagon again. The total number of US troops in the country would increase to about 3000.

The governments in Washington and Baghdad are planning an offensive against the IS for spring 2015. About 20,000 Iraqi soldiers to be trained by then to initiate a ground offensive against the jihadists. The aim is to expel the terrorist militia by the end of next year from Mosul and other major cities in the north and west of Iraq.