In what could be a crushing blow to the extremist outfit Islamic State, Radio Iran has claimed that ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has died following injuries from an air strike.

Many Indian news agencies have carried the report following an alert from Radio Iran and an update from All India Radio, however there is yet to be an official confirmation from defence forces of countries that are involved in military operations or intelligence agencies involved in the operations against the Islamic State.

If the reports are true, Baghdadi's death is unlikely to affect the outfit's functioning given that he had reportedly withdrawn from playing an active role and was more of a figure head after the injuries suffered from the air strike.

However, U.S. forces have said they have no reason to think that ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was wounded in the airstrike that occurred last month.

Colonel Steve Warren, Pentagon spokesman, said the report seems to have been "recycled" from a March story and Baghdadi had not been a target of the raid in question.

In 2014, there had been two previous reports in November and December of Baghdadi being wounded, though neither was accurate.

U.S., Arab and Western forces are engaged in airstrikes against Baghdadi's so-called Islamic State, an extremist group that has seized cities in northern Iraq and Syria.

In recent weeks, U.S. and Iranian-backed Iraqi forces and Shiite militias have made progress against the Sunni militants, but the militant group has itself launched an offensive in western Iraq.