ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is reported to be “seriously ill” after having his “food poisoned by an assassin”.

Meals prepared for Baghdadi and three other commanders of the terrorist organisation were allegedly poisoned in Nineveh’s Be’aaj district, reports the Daily Mail.

Quoting an Iraqi news agency, the report further said that four militants, including Baghdadi, were suffering from “severe poisoning” and “have been transferred to an unknown location under strict measures”.

The identities of the three other commanders remain unknown.

IS has reportedly launched a campaign of arrests to track down those responsible for poisoning the food.

Baghdadi is credited with transforming the breakaway al-Qaeda group and turning it into the independent IS group that is arguably the most powerful and wealthiest terror organisation in the world.

Baghdadi’s movements are known only by his inner circle, and the Caliph, as he is known to his followers, is constantly on the move, changing locations in Iraq and Syria to avoid airstrikes.

Baghdadi has been wounded multiple times in air strikes and been reported dead but has re-surfaced each time.

Baghdadi - whose real name is Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim - is thought to have been born in Samarra, north of Baghdad, in 1971.

In October 2011, the US officially designated Baghdadi as a “terrorist” and offered a $10 million reward for information leading to his capture or death.

BDST: 0926 HRS, OCT 04, 2016
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