PENTAGON officials said on Tuesday they were “sceptical” about reports that an air strike from the US-led coalition in Syria killed Islamic State terror leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

“We have seen these types of reports before, here in Iraq and in other operations, and until we have confirmation, we are going to practice healthy scepticism,” Colonel Christopher C. Garver, a US military spokesman in Baghdad, told Fox News.

His death was reported by the AlhlulBayt news agency, only days after 49 people were killed in an Orlando nightclub by a man pledging allegiance to ISIS.

The Abna24 website said al-Baghdadi had been killed on Sunday morning by an air strike in Syria.

“Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been killed by coalition air strikes on Raqqa on the fifth day of Ramadan,” the statement said.

Conflicting reports have surrounded the location of his death, with some saying he died in Raqqa while others claim it was in Mosul, Iraq.

Both locations are ISIS strongholds.

A statement from Iraqi security forces said: “Iraqi aircraft hit Baghdadi’s convoy as it was moving towards Karabia to attend a meeting of the Daesh terrorist leaders.”

Army Colonel Chris Garver, the public affairs chief of the US-led coalition against ISIS, told USA Today he had heard international media were sharing the report, but he could not confirm that it was true.

Others wrote similar messages on social media warning people not to believe al-Baghdadi was dead.

The Iraqi cleric is known to have been personally responsible the rape and torture of US aid worker Kayla Mueller. He forced the 26-year-old to marry him, before repeatedly raping her.

Mueller was killed during a Jordanian air strike on ISIS in February last year.

The United States has a £7 million price on Baghdadi’s head.