Iraqi military says it struck ISIL leader’s convoy

The Iraqi air force struck a convoy of Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in western Anbar province close to the Syrian border on Sunday, a military statement said.

"Iraqi air forces have bombed the convoy of the terrorist Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi while he was heading to Karabla to attend a meeting with Daesh commanders," the statement read, using the Arabic acronym for ISIL. "His health status is unknown."

Karabla is located on the Euphrates river, a few miles from the border with Syria. The statement did not make clear when the strike was carried out.

Pentagon officials told Al Jazeera that they could not "corroborate or confirm the Iraqi government claim of striking or killing Baghdadi at this point." Iraqi security sources have previously said Baghdadi had been injured or killed in past strikes, but such claims were either never verified or later denied.

The statement said the operation was conducted in coordination with Iraq's Interior Ministry intelligence services and the joint operation command center that includes military advisers from the U.S.-led coalition.

ISIL has seized swathes of Syria and Iraq and has declared an Islamic caliphate over territory it controls. Baghdadi said he had also accepted oaths of allegiance from supporters in Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Algeria.

Al Jazeera and wire services