Recent losses and air strikes have not weakened the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the group’s reclusive leader purportedly said in an audio message, even as the militants lose ground to Iraqi forces in a key city.
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“The message, which is allegedly from IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi himself, said, “…Hear the good news that our state is doing well.
The 24-minute recording would be Baghdadi’s first in seven months, during which ISIS has been dealt several blows in Iraq and Syria.
Al-Baghdadi also threatened Israel, saying “we haven’t forgotten you” and “we are getting closer to you” every day.
He also said now that the Israelis from all around the world have started to return to their hometown, it will be much easier to start a long and strenuous war with them.
ISIS ringleader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi’s post-Christmas call to action in a rare video backfired when Muslims tweeted that they’d rather binge-watch a TV show than become a terrorist.
Baghdadi presented the conflict as a fully global war, uniting all “disbelievers” against his nation of true Muslims, saying his followers remain confident that they will eventually be granted victory, while mocking the coalitions aligned against them.
He also called on Saudi citizens – the biggest contributor to Isil ranks – to “rise up” against their government as he dimissed the kingdom’s newly formed Muslim coalition against the group. The authenticity of the recording has also not been verified.
The problems for ISIS are multiplying as Iraqi security forces are on the verge of clearing the center of Ramadi, the largest city in Anbar province which the terror group seized in May.
After Arab Spring activist and author Iyad El-Baghdadi translated the message and tweeted it out to his followers(in disgust), the jokes began. And it has a marker consistent with other ISIS media and was produced by the group’s al-Furqan Media wing.
“It is a dream that they can take out Islamic State through their airstrikes”.
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As his statement was released, a US-backed coalition of rebels successfully captured a major dam on the Euphrates River from Isis forces, as part of the coalition’s march on Isis-held areas in the north of Syria.
