(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) The United Nations cannot personally verify reports about the death of the leader of Islamic State (ISIS) Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and expects confirmation from the authorities on the ground, Deputy Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General Farhan Haq said on Monday,Trendreports citingTASS .
"We have taken note of the announcement by the president of the United States on the death of Abu Bark al-Baghdadi, the leader of the UN-designated terrorist group Daesh [another name for Islamic State]," he stated, adding that the United Nations "cannot personally verify" this information.
"We trust the reliability of various sources of information that are speaking up but obviously any sort of information would need to be verified by the various authorities on the ground," he stressed.
"Daesh has committed heinous crimes and brought tragedies and deaths to thousands of men, women and children. And we should take this moment to remember the victims and families of victims of terrorism everywhere in the world," he added.
US President Donald Trump said on October 27 that al-Baghdadi had died in an overnight raid led by U.S. forces in Syria's Idlib governorate. He said that many of al-Baghdadi's companions and militants had been killed as well. He thanked Russia, Iraq, Syria and Turkey for their assistance. He pointed out that Russia had opened airspace over Syria for US aircraft.
Meanwhile, Russia's Defense Ministry claimed on Sunday it had no reliable proof that al-Baghdadi was dead. Moreover, it denied opening airspace over Syria for US air forces.
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