IS chief Baghdadi almost certainly alive - Kurdish security officialJuly 17, 2017 - 12:06 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - A top Kurdish counter-terrorism official said on Monday, July 17 he was 99 percent sure that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was alive and located south of the Syrian city of Raqqa, after reports that he had been killed, Reuters reports exclusively. "Baghdadi is definitely alive. He is not dead. We have information that he is alive. We believe 99 percent he is alive," Lahur Talabany told Reuters in an interview. "Don't forget his roots go back to al Qaeda days in Iraq. He was hiding from security services. He knows what he is doing." Iraqi security forces have ended three years of Islamic State rule in the Iraqi city of Mosul, and the group is under growing pressure in Raqqa - both strongholds in the militants' crumbling self-proclaimed caliphate. Still, Talabany said Islamic State was shifting tactics despite low morale and it would take three or four years to eliminate the group. After defeat, Islamic State would wage an insurgency and resemble al-Qaeda on "steroids", he said. The future leaders of Islamic State were expected to be intelligence officers who served under former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, the men credited with devising the group's strategy. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Yeremyan Projects opens state-of-the-art dairy production plant Yeremyan Projects officially launched the Yeremyan Products state-of-the-art milk processing plant in Yerevan on May 24. Armenian PM’s helicopter makes emergency landing in Vanadzor The helicopter transporting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made an emergency landing in Vanadzor. Lavrov says envoys “periodically” summoned for consultations Sergei Lavrov has commented Moscow’s summoning of Russian Ambassador to Armenia Sergei Kopyrkin. Russian Ambassador to Armenia summoned to Moscow for consultations Russian Ambassador to Armenia Sergei Kopyrkin has been summoned to Moscow for consultations. |