US increases bounty for Daesh's Baghdadi

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The U.S. on Friday substantially boosted the reward for information on Daesh's leader.

The State Department more than doubled the bounty to $25 million, up from $10 million, for information that could assist in Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's location, capture or arrest.

The announcement marks the first major increase in the reward since it was initially announced in October 2011.

"Under al-Baghdadi, ISIL has been responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians in the Middle East, including the brutal murder of numerous civilian hostages from Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States," the department said in a statement, referring to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, another name for Daesh.

Baghdadi has managed to evade being killed or captured by the U.S.-led anti-Daesh coalition throughout its more than two-year campaign in Iraq and Syria. Sporadic rumors have continued to mount that he was killed in a variety of U.S.-led actions, but little evidence has surfaced to support those claims.

Some have speculated Baghdadi could be holed up in Mosul, which Iraqi forces are currently fighting to seize from his group.

The U.S. and UN blacklisted al-Baghdadi in 2011 when Daesh was known as the Islamic State of Iraq.

The terror group has since gone on to seize territory throughout Iraq and Syria, declaring the territories under its control a caliphate while leaving a trail of indiscriminate destruction in its wake.

Estimates on the number of Daesh's fighters vary, but it has attracted fighters from across the globe.

The group has faced considerable setbacks this year, being pushed out of some of the lands it once controlled in Iraq and Syria.