Russian Foreign Minister Calls IS Leader Baghdadi US 'Brainchild'

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd November, 2019) The leader of the Islamic State terrorist group (IS, banned in Russia) Abu Bakr Baghdadi was "the brainchild of the United States," and his elimination has not yet been confirmed, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.

"The Russian Defense Ministry has already made a comment on Baghdadi. We want more information. Everything was solemnly and triumphantly announced, but our military is still studying additional facts, and they cannot confirm yet much of what the US has said," Lavrov told the Rossiya 24 broadcaster.

At the same time, he recalled that Baghdadi "is (or was, if he is already dead) a brainchild of the United States."

"The IS arose after the illegal invasion in Iraq, the collapse of the Iraqi state and the release of extremists from prisons by the Americans.

Therefore, to a certain extent, the Americans eliminated the one they gave birth to, if it actually happened," Lavrov concluded.

On Sunday, US President Donald Trump announced that Baghdadi had been killed in Syria during a special operation by the US troops. According to the US leader, the number one terrorist was under Pentagon's surveillance for quite some time before the conditions were ripe to eliminate him. Later, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said that Russia did not have reliable information that the US military had carried out an operation to "destroy" Baghdadi.