{"id":106452,"date":"2017-08-31T20:39:24","date_gmt":"2017-08-31T20:39:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2017\/08\/31\/gentownsend-baghdadi-is-probably-still-alive\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T11:50:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T11:50:00","slug":"gentownsend-baghdadi-is-probably-still-alive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/31\/gentownsend-baghdadi-is-probably-still-alive\/","title":{"rendered":"Gen.Townsend: Baghdadi is probably still alive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is probably still alive, Gen. Stephen Townsend \u2014 the commander of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq and Syria \u2014 told reporters at a televised press briefing at the Pentagon on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cDo I believe he is alive, yes,\u201d he told reporters. \u201cWhy, because I\u2019ve seen no convincing evidence, intel, open source, or other rumor or otherwise that he is dead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Multiple sources including the Russian government and human rights watchdog group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights have reported the demise of the ISIS leader and mass murderer in previous reporting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, U.S. officials have never confirmed those reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere\u2019s also some indicators and intelligence that he\u2019s still alive,\u201d Townsend added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Though the whereabouts of the reclusive leader are still unknown and no proof of life of Baghdadi has surfaced in recent months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHe could be anywhere in the world,\u201d Townsend said. \u201cHe\u2019s probably somewhere in the Middle Euphrates River Valley,\u201d he said, calling it an educated guess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Based on the pure powers of deduction and the last year of offensive operations conducted by the coalition and partner forces various possible locations for the ISIS leader have already been struck off the list, according to Townsend.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/06\/16\/uncertainty-over-islamic-state-leader-s-fate-after-airstrike\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"215\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635532150723826702-mideast-islamic-state-weigjpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Uncertainty over Islamic State leader&#8217;s fate after airstrike<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The Russian Defense Ministry said Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in a Russian strike in late May along with other senior group commanders.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHe\u2019s not in Mosul \u2014 he\u2019s not in Tal Afar \u2014 I don\u2019t think he\u2019s in Raqqa anymore,\u201d Townsend said, striking off locations recently liberated areas or cities currently under siege by coalition forces and their partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The coalition is still looking for Baghdadi every day, according to Townsend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen we find him, I think we\u2019ll just try to kill him first,\u201d he said, answering a question about capturing the elusive ISIS leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019d be equally just as satisfied killing him,\u201d Townsend said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is probably still alive, Gen. Stephen Townsend said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":31872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":10,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"4":{"categories":["news","flashpoints","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"flashpoints"},"5":{"categories":["news","flashpoints","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"flashpoints"},"6":{"categories":["news","flashpoints","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"flashpoints"},"7":{"categories":["flashpoints","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":""}}},"categories":[10,15],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3472],"class_list":["post-106452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-flashpoints","category-news"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"6S6PIPFUG5GNTLVDNAQOCSU4JM","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/31\/gentownsend-baghdadi-is-probably-still-alive\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Gen.Townsend: Baghdadi is probably still alive - Military Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is probably still alive, Gen. 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