Purported Islamic State Leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
A man purported to be the reclusive leader of the militant Islamic State Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has made what would be his first public appearance at a mosque in the centre of Iraq's second city, Mosul. Reuters/Social Media Website via Reuters TV

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the militant group the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), has been confirmed to be among those critically injured in a weekend airstrike by U.S.-led coalition forces. An unidentified official from Iraq's Interior Ministry told The Associated Press that al-Baghdadi was among those hit during the airstrike bombing in the town of Qaim in Iraq's western Anbar province. He was believed to have been in the area for a meeting with militants.

Initial reports said al-Baghdadi died instantly in the airstrike. But the same Interior Ministry intelligence official clarified the strikes only wounded the ISIS chief, albeit critically. However, Iraqi officials have no information on the extent of al-Baghdadi's apparent injuries.

Auf Abdulrahman Elefery, the terror chief's right hand man, meantime, died during the aerial assault, senior Iraqi officials confirmed. He was among the riders of a 10-vehicle convoy near Mosul in northern Iraq. The Daily Telegraph, citing Hisham al-Hashimi, an Iraqi security official, said al-Baghdadi and Elefery were hardly inseparable when they conduct their ISIS activities, making officials believe that al-Baghdadi was also in the same convoy at the time of the attack. Elefery's death was confirmed to him by relatives, Hashimi claimed.

Air Force Col. Patrick Ryder, spokesman for U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Florida, said last Sunday that they have yet to confirm reports if ISIS leader al-Baghdadi was really part of the convoy and if he was really injured. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told AP they gathered information that an airstrike did occur near Qaim and that the wounded ISIS militants were taken across to the Syrian border town of Boukamal, at Aisha Hospital. But it also hasn't confirmed yet if somebody had died there or not.

Al-Baghdadi, the self-appointed caliph or spiritual leader of the blood-hungry group, is the one responsible for transforming the previous al-Qaida local branch into what ISIS is known today. He is believed to be in his early 40s with a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head.

If indeed Al-Baghdadi has been critically wounded or better yet dead and his right man also dead, will this already mean the end of the ISIS? Or the world can expect a far meaner retaliation from the terrorist group?

Dr. Theodore Karasik is a Senior Advisor to Risk Insurance Management in Dubai, UAE, wrote in Al Arabiya News the injury or death of Al-Baghdadi will "mitigate ISIS capabilities" because it will "disperse" the central command and control. However, "'Caliph Ibrahim' is not the brains behind ISIS operations. That responsibility falls to his lieutenants that can be easily replaced in ISIS's linear structure. They can reorganize quickly and effectively in the near term," Karasik said.