ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's son ‘killed in Syria during power station attack’
Hudhayfah al-Badri died in Homs province while battling Russian forces and troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad during an attack on a thermal power station, ISIS said in a statement released via its official channels.
There are few details known about Badri, including his age.
The picture accompanying the ISIS statement shows a young teenager who is apparently carrying an assault rifle – although the photograph could have been altered digitally.
The statement, which referred to him as “the son of the caliph”, a reference to al-Baghdadi’s position within ISIS, did not say when he was killed.
NO CREDIT Baghdadi's son Hudhayfa al-Badri has been killed in Syria
It explained his death had occurred during an “inghimasi operation”, generally taken to mean an attack during which jihadists fight for as long as they can with guns and grenades.
Such battles usually end either with the assailants being shot or killing themselves with suicide vests.
Inghimasi operations differ from more traditional suicide bombing missions, whereby attacker detonate their explosives immediately they reach their targets.
Baghdadi is the world’s most wanted man, with a $25million United States reward on offer for information leading to his death or capture.
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Even though the caliphate he helped create in Iraq and Syria, has crumbled, he has consistently evaded capture.
He is thought to be in hiding in a remote area near the Iraqi-Syria border.
Persistent rumours have suggested he may have been badly injured during an airstrike.
Baghdadi hit the headlines in July 2014, after appeared at the Great Mosque in Mosul to declare himself Islamic State leader.