Iraq’s Ba’athists have released a two-hour audio recording apparently made by former Saddam aide Izzat al-Douri, who the Iraqi government had claimed was killed last month.
Officials and Shi’ite militia leaders were claiming al-Douri had been killed in the wrap-up of the battle with ISIS over Tikrit. He was the top Saddam aide still at large after the 2003 US occupation.
The claims included leaked photos of a man with similar red hair bearing some resemblance to al-Douri, though there have been no conclusive DNA tests on the body.
The man in the audio recording refers to events that happened after his putative death, so assuming the audio recording is authentic, he clearly survived.
Thus continues the murky era of claimed terrorists being "killed" and then popping up again.
Sometimes they are dead, sometimes not. Obviously terror groups want to project a view that their enemies are weak and liars, making false claims. Also, when targets aren't really dead, those groups take glee in embarrassing the supposed killers.
While this isn't scientific, I'd say its roughly 50-50 on the US side. The Iraqi claims, probably lower.
Of course it is difficult to confirm when these "hits" are done via drone or aircraft and no one is on the ground to confirm target destruction. This is an old and major issue for all militaries regardless of targets, to confirm aerial kills or destruction. People blown to bits from 10,000 feet up all look pretty much the same. Ditto for "terrorists" and innocent civilians.
Some of these Iraqi/IS targets have been "killed" repeatedly. But some are also now dead.