US Defense Secretary believes IS leader is still alive.

On July 21, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said he believed the IS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was still alive.

Russia released images of the building (before and after the airstrike) believed to be where they killed al-Baghdadi in the Raqqa airstrike - Photo: Facebook of the Russian Ministry of Defense.

According to Reuters, Russia had previously announced that it had killed Al Baghdadi in a series of airstrikes in the city of Raqqa (Syria) last month.

Earlier this month, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also confirmed it had "confirmed information" that Baghdadi had been killed.

However, Iraqi and Western officials remain skeptical about this information. Mattis said he had yet to see any evidence that the IS leader had been killed after weeks of speculation.

"I think he's still alive, and I'll only believe that when we know we've killed him. But we're still hunting him... we believe he's alive," Mattis told reporters at the Pentagon.

Mattis added: "For obvious reasons, we are trying to keep a close eye on him because he has declared war on us and he must face the consequences for that."

Moscow said Al-Baghdad was killed in a Russian airstrike while he was holding an emergency meeting with 30 of his commanding officers and 300 militants in the city of Raqqa.

According to TTO