Russia said Monday that the killing of the ISIL Takfiri group’s leader by US forces, if confirmed, would represent a “serious contribution” by US President Donald Trump to fighting terrorism.

The Russian military had earlier raised doubts about Trump’s announcement that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in northwestern Syria.
But President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday: “Our officers really saw US planes in the area, they saw drones in the area which could have been working there” as Trump had claimed.
“If this information about Baghdadi’s death is really confirmed, then in general we can speak of a serious contribution by the US president to the battle with international terrorism,” Peskov told reporters.
Trump announced Sunday that Baghdadi died “like a dog” in a nighttime raid by US special forces. He said many ISIL militants were killed in the raid and Baghdadi detonated a suicide vest when he was cornered in a tunnel.
Russia’s defense ministry said it did “not have reliable information” about the operation.
It expressed skepticism over what it called the “umpteenth death” reported of the ISIL chief.
It had said in 2017 that Baghdadi was possibly killed in an air strike.
The Russian military has criticized the US for its actions in Syria, stopping short of accusing it of taking action that benefits the ISIL group.