Daesh confirms Baghdadi's death, vows revenge

Daesh confirmed on Thursday that its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in a weekend raid by US special forces in northwestern Syria and vowed revenge against the United States.

The group confirmed his death in an audiotape posted online and said a successor, identified as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Quraishi, had been appointed.

Little is known about Hashimi, whose name was seldom mentioned as a possible successor the multiple times that Baghdadi was reported killed in recent years.

Daesh also confirmed the death of its spokesman Abu al-Hassan al-Muhajir.

The group has resorted to guerrilla attacks since losing its last significant piece of territory in Syria in March.

Since Baghdadi’s death, it has posted dozens of claims of responsibility for attacks in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and elsewhere.