ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has reportedly fled to Libya after he narrowly escaped an airstrike in Iraq. The self-declared Caliph is believed to have moved to the group's North African stronghold of Sirte, the hometown of late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, according to reports. Iranian news agency FARS claims Baghdadi was taken to Turkey for treatment after suffering serious injuries in an air strike in October by Iraq's air force in Western Anbar province. He was initially taken to the group's de facto capital of Raqqa in Syria, where doctors saved his life, but a shortage of specialised medical equipment meant he needed to be moved, the report said. Sources claimed Baghdadi was taken to Turkey for further treatment a few days later. He is said to have then travelled to Libya amid fears the U.S.-led coalition and Iraqi intelligence services were closing the net around him. FARS quoted its Libyan source as saying: 'While everyone is looking for him in Iraq and Syria, no one expects him to be in Sirte. 'If he is to be exposed to danger, Sirte would be the last place on Earth for his life to be endangered as it is the safest Takfiri (ISIS) stronghold in the world.' The current chaos in Libya with groups of militias competing for power since the overthrow of Colonel Gaddafi in 2011 has allowed ISIS to build influence, notably in the Libyan leader's coastal home town of Sirte, east of Tripoli. ISIS first appeared in Libya in 2014 when a group of Libyan fighters returned from Syria and reorganised in the port city of Derna, declaring eastern Libya to be a province of the caliphate. Experts and sources in Libya say ISIS are now seeking to expand beyond Sirte. Stories of his death or injuries have been reported before, including unsubstantiated claims that he had been left incapacitated and overthrown as leader of the jihadi group. Despite the rumours, ISIS supporters previously revealed that even if Baghdadi was killed, his self-proclaimed caliphate would survive. 'Does the entire world not know that even if, hypothetically, our Sheikh al-Baghdadi, God save and protect him from all evils and dangers, was martyred, do you think the State of the Caliphate would end? 'Do you think we would leave?,' said a tweet from one supporter.
