Baghdadi probably still alive: US commander

Washington: Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi may be still alive and hiding in the border area between Syria and Iraq, a senior US general has said, contradicting a claim by Russia that it prpbably killed him in a raid in May. As Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over the terror group in the city of Tal Afar on Thursday, US Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend told reporters that his forces were continuing the search for the elusive figurehead of the militant group, BBC reported. "We're looking for him every day. I don't think he's dead," said Townsend, the commander of the counter-IS coalition in Iraq and Syria.Although he admitted that he did not "have a clue" about Baghdadi's precise whereabouts.