Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was filmed in 'remote' location, says Iraqi prime minister
Last Update: 2019-05-01 00:00:00 - Source: Iraq News
Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made his recently-released propaganda video in a “remote area”, Iraq’s prime minister Adel Abdul Mahdi.
Warning that the group remained a powerful threat around the world despite its reduced capabilities, he did not say where the footage was taken.
“Regarding the location of Baghdadi, we can’t give intelligence information right now but it’s clear from the video that he’s in a remote area,” Mr Mahdi told a press conference in Berlin.
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Released earlier this week by Isis’ media network the video showed a man it claimed was Baghdadi in what would be his first appearance for five years.
Western intelligence agencies have speculated that he had gone into hiding somewhere in the desert regions of Iraq or Syria.
ISIS began as a group by the merging of extremist organisations ISI and al-Nusra in 2013.
Following clashes, Syrian rebels captured the ISIS headquarters in Aleppo in January 2014 (pictured)
AFP/Getty
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Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi declared the creation of a caliphate in Mosul on 27 June 2014
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Isis conquered the Kurdish towns of Sinjar and Zumar in August 2014, forcing thousands of civilians to flee their homes. Pictured are a group of Yazidi Kurds who have fled
Rex
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On September 2 2014 Isis released a video depicting the beheading of US journalist Steven Sotloff. On September 13 they released another video showing the execution of British aid worker David Haines
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The US launched its first airstrikes against Isis in Syria on 23 September 2014. Here Lt Gen William C Mayville Jnr speaks about the bombing campaign in the wake of the first strikes
Getty
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Isis militants sit atop a hill planted with their flag in the Syrian town of Kobani on 6 October 2014. They had been advancing on Kobani since mid-September and by now was in control of the city’s entrance and exit points
AFP/Getty
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Residents of the border village of Alizar keep guard day and night as they wait in fear of mortar fire from Isis who have occupied the nearby city of Kobani
Getty
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Smoke rises following a US airstrike on Kobani, 28 October 2014
AFP/Getty
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YPG fighters raise a flag as they reclaim Kobani on 26 January 2015
VOA
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Isis seized the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra on 20 May 2015. This image show the city from above days after its capture by Isis
Getty
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Kurdish forces are stationed on a hill above the town of Sinjar as smoke rises following US airstrikes on 12 November 2015
AFP/Getty
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Kurdish forces enter Sinjar after seizing it from Isis control on 13 November 2015
AFP/Getty
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Iraqi government forces make the victory sign as they retake the city of Fallujah from ISIS on 26 June 2016
Getty
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Iraqi forces battle with Isis for the city of Mosul on 30 June 2017
AFP/Getty
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Members of the Iraqi federal police raise flags in Mosul on 8 July 2017. On the following day, Iraqi prime minister Haider Al Abadi declares victory over Isis in Mosul
Getty
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Members of Syrian Democratic Forces celebrate in Al-Naim square after taking back the city of Raqqa from Isis. US-backed Syrian forces declare victory over Isis in Raqqa on 20 October 2017 after a four-month long campaign
Getty
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Female fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces celebrate in Al-Naim Square after taking back the city of Raqqa from Isis. US-backed Syrian forces declare victory over Isis in Raqqa on 20 October 2017 after a four-month long campaign
AFP/Getty
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Trucks full of women and children arrive from the last Isis-held areas in Deir ez-Zor, Syria in January 2019
They were among the last civilians to be living in the ISIS caliphate, by this time reduced to just two small villages in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor
Richard Hall/The Independent
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Zikia Ibrahim, 28, with her two-year-old son and 8-month-old daughter, after fleeing the Isis caliphate, on Saturday 26 January 2019
Richard Hall/The Independent
1/19
ISIS began as a group by the merging of extremist organisations ISI and al-Nusra in 2013.
Following clashes, Syrian rebels captured the ISIS headquarters in Aleppo in January 2014 (pictured)
AFP/Getty
2/19
Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi declared the creation of a caliphate in Mosul on 27 June 2014
3/19
Isis conquered the Kurdish towns of Sinjar and Zumar in August 2014, forcing thousands of civilians to flee their homes. Pictured are a group of Yazidi Kurds who have fled
Rex
4/19
On September 2 2014 Isis released a video depicting the beheading of US journalist Steven Sotloff. On September 13 they released another video showing the execution of British aid worker David Haines
5/19
The US launched its first airstrikes against Isis in Syria on 23 September 2014. Here Lt Gen William C Mayville Jnr speaks about the bombing campaign in the wake of the first strikes
Getty
6/19
Isis militants sit atop a hill planted with their flag in the Syrian town of Kobani on 6 October 2014. They had been advancing on Kobani since mid-September and by now was in control of the city’s entrance and exit points
AFP/Getty
7/19
Residents of the border village of Alizar keep guard day and night as they wait in fear of mortar fire from Isis who have occupied the nearby city of Kobani
Getty
8/19
Smoke rises following a US airstrike on Kobani, 28 October 2014
AFP/Getty
9/19
YPG fighters raise a flag as they reclaim Kobani on 26 January 2015
VOA
10/19
Isis seized the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra on 20 May 2015. This image show the city from above days after its capture by Isis
Getty
11/19
Kurdish forces are stationed on a hill above the town of Sinjar as smoke rises following US airstrikes on 12 November 2015
AFP/Getty
12/19
Kurdish forces enter Sinjar after seizing it from Isis control on 13 November 2015
AFP/Getty
13/19
Iraqi government forces make the victory sign as they retake the city of Fallujah from ISIS on 26 June 2016
Getty
14/19
Iraqi forces battle with Isis for the city of Mosul on 30 June 2017
AFP/Getty
15/19
Members of the Iraqi federal police raise flags in Mosul on 8 July 2017. On the following day, Iraqi prime minister Haider Al Abadi declares victory over Isis in Mosul
Getty
16/19
Members of Syrian Democratic Forces celebrate in Al-Naim square after taking back the city of Raqqa from Isis. US-backed Syrian forces declare victory over Isis in Raqqa on 20 October 2017 after a four-month long campaign
Getty
17/19
Female fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces celebrate in Al-Naim Square after taking back the city of Raqqa from Isis. US-backed Syrian forces declare victory over Isis in Raqqa on 20 October 2017 after a four-month long campaign
AFP/Getty
18/19
Trucks full of women and children arrive from the last Isis-held areas in Deir ez-Zor, Syria in January 2019
They were among the last civilians to be living in the ISIS caliphate, by this time reduced to just two small villages in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor
Richard Hall/The Independent
19/19
Zikia Ibrahim, 28, with her two-year-old son and 8-month-old daughter, after fleeing the Isis caliphate, on Saturday 26 January 2019
Richard Hall/The Independent
The authenticity has not been independently verified, and France’s defence minister Florence Parly said her country’s intelligence services were checking its credibility.
“The video of al-Baghdadi – the Caliph without a caliphate – is to be considered with caution at this stage. French services are analysing it,” she wrote on Twitter. “If this video is authentic, it confirms what we have repeated: Daesh (Isis) has no territory, but Daesh has not disappeared.”
Mr Mahdi also argued that Baghdadi’s appearance was an attempt to boost militants and that Isis would attempt to carry out more attacks.
Abu Bakral-Baghdadi appears in undated and unlocated video released by Al-Furqan media (Al-Furqan media/AFP/Getty)
“Daesh (Isis) is not just a small organisation, it’s widespread and will try to put confidence back in its militants and carry out acts such as those in Sri Lanka,” he said, referring to the Easter attacks there this month claimed by the group. “But its capabilities have greatly reduced,” he said.
In the 18-minute video from the Al Furqan network, a bearded man with Baghdadi’s appearance said the bombings in Sri Lanka were Isis’ response to losses in its last territorial stronghold of Baghouz in Syria.
A US-backed campaign ended the group’s control of territory in Iraq in late 2017 and in Syria last month, nearly five years after the group took over vast areas in both countries.
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The last few months saw a huge exodus from the Baghouz area. Some 60,000 people left the enclave as it came under bombardment, nearly half of whom were surrendering supporters of Isis, including some 5,000 fighters.
Many were foreigners from Iraq, Kazakhstan, Russia and even France.
