ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is not dead as rumors suggest, but 'in hiding as he rebuilds the ideological foundations of the caliphate by developing a program to indoctrinate children', according to US intelligence

ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi may not be dead as rumors suggest but is in hiding, US intelligence believes.

Despite his unwillingness to be photographed and having only spoken in public on few occasions, US counter-terrorism officials believe Baghadi he is trying to come up with a strategy for the decreasing number of ISIS fighters, according to The Washington Post.

Among these strategies is a rebuilding of the ideological foundations of the caliphate by developing a program to indoctrinate schoolchildren. 

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ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (pictured, July 2014) may not be dead as rumors suggest but is in hiding, US intelligence believes

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The officials believe Baghdadi (picttured) is trying to create new strategies for the decreasing presence of the caliphate - among them is to develop a program to indoctrinate schoolchildren

One officer, known as Abu Zaid al-Iraqi, said that Baghdadi gathered his top aides near the city of Deir al-Zour in Syria in mid-2017 for a meeting last year as Raqqa, the group's capital in Iraq, fell and its footing was being lost in Syria.

'Several top leaders were present, as well as the curricula committee, which I headed,' al-Iraqi said in a videotaped statement aired on Iraqi television.

It is one of a few reported appearances by the terrorist leader who has managed to avoid the spotlight.

Cc:dailymail