White House has no update on Russian report of Baghdadi's death

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Washington: The U.S. administration on Friday was unable to provide any update on a report by Russia`s defense ministry that it may have killed Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in an air strike near the Syrian city of Raqqa last month, a White House official said.

There was no initial independent confirmation that Baghdadi had been killed. The U.S.-led coalition fighting against Islamic State militants said it could not confirm the death, and several Iraqi officials told Reuters they were skeptical.