ISIS chief Baghdadi appears on video, first time since 2014
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Video footage purportedly showing Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, head of the Islamic State (ISIS) group, emerged on jihadist social media platforms on Monday afternoon.
In the 18-minute clip, Baghdadi says the recent terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka, which killed around 300 people, were an act of revenge for the group's defeat in Syria's Baghouz.
The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) seized the last sliver of ISIS territory in Syria's Baghouz, Deir ez-Zor province, on March 23.
Published by ISIS media arm Al-Furqan on messaging app Telegram, the footage shows 47-year-old Baghdadi seated next to an AK-47 assault rifle – a pose reminiscent of images of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
“The war of Islam and its followers against the crusaders and their followers is a long one,” Baghdadi says, claiming the group has now resumed its earlier insurgency tactics.
He also praises foreign fighters from who joined the group and calls on supporters to attack the "crusaders" - specifically France.
In this still from an 18-minute clip posted by ISIS media on messaging app Telegram, Baghdadi is purportedly shown seated with several lieutenants. April 29, 2019. Photo: ISIS media / Telegram
The one-time “caliph” has not been seen in public since he announced the foundation of the ISIS statelet at the al-Nuri mosque in Mosul in 2014.
Several unconfirmed reports in recent years claimed he was killed in an airstrike. Others said he was hiding out in Iraq’s desert province of Anbar.
This is a developing story…
