The Kremlin says President Vladimir Putin has chaired a meeting of his security council to discuss the Russian military's claim that it had killed the Islamic State group's leader in an airstrike in Syria.
According to reports, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told the meeting, the strike on Raqqa had killed ``over 100 militants, among which there were members of the IS leadership, presumably including Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.''
The Russian Defence Ministry says the information about al-Baghdadi's death was still ``being verified through various channels.'' It posted an image of the building in Raqqa that housed the IS leader's meeting and was destroyed in the strike.
Asked about the military's claim at a news conference in Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said: ``I don't have a 100-per cent confirmation of the information.''