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US Forces Think ISIS Leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Could Still Be Alive

Rumors of his death have circulated many times.
Posted at 10:46 AM, Sep 01, 2017
and last updated 2017-09-01 10:46:39-04

ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi might not be dead.

"If he's alive out there somewhere, we're looking for him every day. I don't think he's dead," Townsend said.

That's what Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend told reporters on Thursday in a press briefing.

Townsend says he has no idea where Baghdadi is but offered an "educated guess" that he's somewhere in the middle Euphrates River Valley.

Rumors of Baghdadi's death have circulated many times. In June, Russian forces said they might have killed the ISIS leader during a May airstrike.

In July, a Syrian watchdog group said it "confirmed information" about his death.

The U.S. put up a $25 million reward for information on Baghdadi. Townsend said if they find the ISIS leader, they may not bother holding him.

"When we find him, I think we'll probably just try to kill him first," Townsend said.