Story highlights The No. 1 target on the list is Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a senior U.S. official says

The United States has already killed a dozen or so ISIS operatives on the list, the official says

(CNN) The United States is maintaining a list of about two dozen or so top ISIS operatives in Iraq and Syria that it hopes to target in airstrikes, according to a senior U.S. official.

The list essentially amounts to a kill list, since the United States has no troops on the ground in Iraq or Syria to capture ISIS suspects. The No. 1 target on the list is Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS.

One U.S. official said al-Baghdadi is well-aware the United States is hunting him, so the belief is he is staying out of sight.

It's been months since the last intelligence report about where al-Baghdadi is hiding, a senior U.S. official tells CNN.

The United States believes al-Baghdadi knows warplanes are hunting him, so he moves cautiously -- even as his influence has grown beyond Syria and Iraq.

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